You can't choose who you love
by Flamboyant Flower
Summary: Kain leaves for a few days, so obviously Ruka and Aidou insult each other while Ichijou merely grins. The usual... or is it? Mainly RukaxKain/Aidou/Ichijou but ZeroxYuukixKaname later and some RimaxShiki. And Aidou makes a scene in the very first chapter!
1. Please Please

Chapter 1. Please Please

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Vampire Knight, if I did, things would be much, much more interesting...kukuku...

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Ruka looked longingly out the balcony. As Kaname was hugging that Yuuki again, one single, bitter word appeared on her mind. 'Why?' Why did he ignore her? Why didn't he return her glances? She had loved him even before meeting him, she would literally die for him, and not because he had the power to force her to. No... she would do it willingly, if ever it was necessary. Her lips parted and she asked the question she'd asked so many times before. "Why does he choose her?"

"He doesn't. You can't choose who you love." Kain's soft voice floated to her ears, as soothing as always. He whispered, somewhat sorrowfully. "No one can..."

"I guess you're right." Missing the hidden meaning of his words, the long-haired beauty sighed and turned away from the loving scene that broke her heart a little bit more every time she saw it. Taking a deep breath, she changed the subject. "By the way, why are you dressed so formally today?"

The red-haired vampire looked at himself. He was wearing his school uniform the same way he always did, with his midnight-black shirt loose and an unbuttoned titanium white blazer. The only difference was that he was wearing a white tie today. He shrugged, answering in a bored tone of voice: "I have to go home for a while. We're having the yearly family reunion, and they asked me to dress accordingly." Stupid dress codes...

Ruka arched an eyebrow and asked, sarcastically: "Do you really think a tie is enough to impress them?"

Kain smiled. "There's very few people I want to impress, and none will be at that reunion."

___________________________

Aidou was snoring loudly, with his face smothered in his big, soft, fluffy, lavender-scented pillow. He was dreaming of adoring girls with lovely necks, chocolates and sweets. Ah, the sweets...

"Hanabusa, wake up."

CLUNK!

Aidou's aqua-marine eyes opened slowly and he looked annoyingly at his cousin, who had just thrown an alarm clock at him. He lifted his face from the drooled, half-chewed pillow and yawned, rubbing his eyes. "Ahh! What do you want, Akatsuki, it's still so bright outside!"

Kain sat on his cousin's bed and looked at him. "Hanabusa, I need to ask you a favour."

Aidou's expression suddenly turned serious and suspicious. Kain was asking him for a favour? Him? He trusted _him_? This couldn't be good. "What do you need?"

"As you know, my family's holding a family reunion and I have to go. I need you to take care of Ruka while I'm not here. Please? This is really important to me."

'He wants me to take care of that spoilt brat?' Even though it wasn't something he would enjoy, Aidou smiled. This was the first time Kain had been so honest and sincere with him. The first time that he'd asked him something truly important. "Of course."

Kain stood up and said, casually: "Good. Anyway, I also asked Ichijou. It's not that I don't trust you, it's just that I trust him more."

The warm feeling of being trusted was quickly replaced by anger for being choice number two. The blond's face grew like a balloon and he started shouting: "WHAT?! You ungrateful idiot! And here I was, thinking that we had finally bonded for once! How could you do this to me? I thought I meant something to you!! And now I find out that you did it with Ichijou as well? What does he have that I don't? You're just using me and I'm supposed to like it?!"

Kain's face was redder than his hair as he tried to silence his noisy cousin. Didn't he know how to control his fits? "Hanabusa, shut up! People might hear you and take it the wrong way!!"

"No, you shut up!" Aidou ran out of the room, promptly followed by Kain.

______________________________________

"Shiki, open." The crimson-haired boy, currently resting his head on Rimas' lap, opened his mouth, while the pigtailed model dropped a chocolate ball in it. On the opposite sofa, Ruka was gently sipping her tea, while Ichijou sat on an armchair, occasionally grinning whenever he turned the pages of his new manga. It was a quiet sunset. Was, if not for the two maniacs who had been shouting and now were running down the stairs, one of which was in his pink bunny pyjamas. Lovely.

"I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!!!"

"Hanabusa, stop making a scene! Look at the state of you!"

This sentence merely provided Aidou with more ammunition. "Oh, I see! Now I'm ugly as well!" He pointed at the other blond in the room. "I bet you also think Ichijou is prettier than me!"

All eyes were on Ichijou now, who turned almost as red as Kain, who was trying to appease Aidou. "Hanabusa, please be reasonable!"

"I am up to here with being reasonable! How could you, you two-faced, low-life, lying backstabber!! I trusted you! I thought I was the only one you would ask to perform that task, but now I see you're just like all the others! You went to Ichijou behind my back!"

Ruka, Rima and Shiki all glanced suspiciously at Ichijou again, who was hiding his face behind his book.

Rima remarked, nonchalantly, and much to Ichijou's chagrin: "I never thought those three were into _that_."

Ruka added, still sipping her tea: "I guess you never really know people." She gently tapped her index finger on her chin. "Although, the only one that surprises me is Akatsuki."

Shiki finished munching his chocolate and said: "True, the other two have given us quite a few hints, haven't they?"

Ichijou looked at his pink shojou mangas, sweating, while Aidou burst, annoyed at being ignored: "What are you people talking about?" Kain sighed and whispered something to him. Aidou's eyes grew and he pointed his finger at the trio accusingly. "How very dare you!! Who do you think I am?!"

"A lala boy?"

"An _okama_?"

"A _Barazoku_ fan?"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS SAYING?!? I'm NOT gay, okay?" Aidou ran back up the stairs, fuming and mumbling to himself. "Really, I never!"

Ruka continued drinking her tea, while Ichijou and Kain exchanged looks. Shiki noticed them. "They're flirting."

Ichijou pouted, in a whiny voice: "Shiki-kun, you're so mean! And Rima-chan and Ruka-chan, you too, accusing me of such behaviour. What if my Day Class fans heard you, the poor little things?"

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So, what do you guys think? Right, that's it for the first chapter. I still have much more to write, this just a little beginning for our story. By the way, the chapters' names may seem weird at times, that's because I'm naming them after songs of one of my favourite bands :)

And I should probably say that Yuuki is not a vampire in this story, Kaname hasn't given her her memories back yet, 'kay?

Oh, and in case you're wondering okama is slang in Japan for gay and Barazoku was a gay magazine there (Wikipedia is so helpful) and I have nothing against gay people, just thought a little misunderstanding would be fun, plus Aidou gets to make a scene. Whooo!^^

PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW ^_^


	2. Hypnotised

Chapter 2. Hypnotised

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Vampire Knight, if I did, things would be much, much more interesting...kukuku...

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'Dum dum dum dum dum, la la la la, ta da…' Aidou was humming 007's theme tune in his mind, while looking everywhere, trying to be discreet. He was spying on Ruka, making sure that nothing bad happened, but of course he had to keep some distance between them, after all he didn't want her to notice him.

"Hanabusa, why are you following me?" Ruka was exasperated. He had been following her the whole evening, leaving room for just half an arm between them.

Caught off-guard, Aidou replied, equally annoyed at her. "I'm not! Seriously, you're so conceited..."

Ruka crossed her arms and turned to face him. "Very well then. In that case, can you tell me what you're going to do in the girls' toilet?"

The blond-haired boy looked to his right. He was right in front of the girls' toilet. Flicking his perfectly combed hair, he answered, rather haughtily: "Give me a break, okay? Without Akatsuki around, it's boring and I have nothing better to do than make sure that nothing exciting happens in your boring little life."

The Souen girl turned her back on him, while tossing her luscious locks as well. "Do whatever pleases you, but do not involve me in it. I do not have time for such trivial things." She was surprised when she tried to walk away, but felt someone grabbing her arms. She snorted, annoyed: "What are you doing now?"

Aidou had managed to catch a glimpse of her neck, and he suddenly remembered that he hadn't drank 'properly' in ages. So, he grabbed her arms and quickly hugged her upper torso. He was sure Ruka wouldn't mind, after all, she herself was a vampire, thus knowing what he was going through. "I'm thirsty."

She rolled her brown eyes. "Hanabusa, this is getting really old. Could you let go of me?"

"Ruka, I'm bored. And when I'm bored, I get hungry. So, how about letting me drink a bit?"

Ruka tensed. 'No...! My blood is for...'

_______

_*Flashback* _

_Ruka was examining her room. This would be the first of many nights spent in this so-called Academy.__She sighed. She wouldn't be here if it weren't for her beloved Kaname-sama... The door opened. "Who is ... Kaname-sama?"_

_Kaname was at the door, red glazing over his eyes. He looked her in the eyes, and she knew at once what it was that he wanted. She exposed her neck to him and happily let him drink at will._

_*End of flashback* _

_______

Aidou stumbled backwards, almost falling to the cold, hard floor. He looked at Ruka, terrified. She had violently pushed him away, as if the mere contact of his skin burned her, and was now looking harshly at him, while her usually placid brown orbs were now tainted with...hate? Pure hate. No-one had ever looked at him like that. People were usually jealous, but never hated him, he was too charming for that. "Ruka..."

How dare he touch her? He had no right! "Stay away from me, you parasitic blood-sucker." Her words were delivered with such firmness that her disgust for him was almost hidden. Almost. The venom dripping from her voice easily reached Aidou's ears, stinging him, and he knew that somehow he had gone one step too far.

During class, he couldn't take his eyes off her back. Shiki, who was sitting next to him, noticed this and asked, in his monotone voice: "Aidou, is there something wrong? You look hypnotised."

Aidou snapped out of his trance. "What? No, there's nothing wrong, I'm just bored." The truth of the matter was that he felt... well, he didn't feel bad, but he didn't feel good either, about what had happened. He was glad Kain didn't know what was going on, or he'd probably kill him. He let his head fall on the desk and ruffled his own hair. 'Argh! Why am I thinking about this? It's Ruka's fault! She's the one who over-reacted, so she's the one who should apologize!' With this thought, he turned his attention to more pressing matters, like his hair.

________________________________________

Ichijou was humming an anime's theme tune happily while walking through the Night Class dorm's corridors. He suddenly remembered that Kain had asked him to take care of Ruka, so he decided to take a little turn to check up on her.

As he was approaching her room, he heard noises and things falling to the floor. 'What was that? Maybe Ruka-chan's in trouble!' He hurried to her room and quickly opened the door. "Ruka-chan, are you okay?" He stopped abruptly when he saw it. Ruka was...

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I'd like to know that you guys really do exist, so...

PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW ^_^


	3. Unsaid things

Chapter 3. Unsaid things

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Vampire Knight, if I did, things would be much, much more interesting...kukuku...

* * *

Ichijou couldn't believe his emerald-green eyes. Ruka, who was usually so prim and proper, was wrestling... a doll! An almost life-sized faceless rag doll was labeled 'Aidou'.

He nearly stuttered. "Ruka-chan...?"

"Takuma-sama?!" Ruka stopped immediately, embarrassed that someone had seen her engaging in such an unlady-like activity, and blushed. "I..this...I mean...hum..."

Ichijou picked up the beaten up doll. "I assume Aidou has annoyed you slightly? How about we go and have a cup of tea? It will do you good."

Incapable of saying anything, Ruka nodded and followed him.

____________

The main living-room at the Night Class dorm was empty, with no-one but two figures breaking the silence.

"Hahaha!" Ichijou was laughing whole-heartedly at Ruka's story, much to her annoyance. Noticing her tense posture, he wiped away imaginary tears on the corner of his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Ruka-chan, but it's just so funny!"

"With all due respect, there's nothing amusing about it! He was completely out of order, Takuma-sama."

He waved dismissively. "Come on, Ruka-chan, Aidou-kun was just being his usual self. And please, call me Taku-chan. Look, tomorrow's Saturday. How about we go to town for a bit, so you can clear your mind?"

She frowned. "What? During the day?"

"Of course! That's when all the best stores are open. Why?" Ichijou's voice became laced with genuine worry. "Ruka-chan, you don't have some sort of skin anomaly, do you? Do you get red like Shiki and Rima?"

"No, it's just that..." Her voice fell slightly. "...it will be full of humans." Ruka grimaced. She hated being surrounded by those pesky creatures. Sure, she would save them when needed, but she preferred not to associate with them whenever possible. Teenage girls were the worst, they just couldn't stop glaring at each other or drooling over pretty boys.

"Don't worry, I'll be there with you, so no-one harms you!" Ichijou looked at his watch. "Oh, I should get going! Kaname asked me for these papers ages ago. See you tomorrow!" Ichijou disappeared up the stairs, in a mix between skipping and jumping. Unknown to her, he threw a worried glance at the long-haired girl.

Ruka averted her eyes from the stairs and touched her neck. Now that Ichijou wasn't there anymore to distract her, her thought immediately fell on the pureblood. 'Kaname-sama... why?'

_________________________________

Unfortunately for Ruka, Saturday was a sunny day, and the town centre was full of busy people, chatting and laughing while enjoying the outdoors. Some were shopping for friends or family, others merely watching the crowd while sitting outside a café, and others were waiting for a certain someone who was late.

'Where is he? He said 8.00, and it's already 8.30!' Ruka crossed her arms. She should have never have agreed to this preposterous idea. Mingle with humans during a hot, sunny day? What next, go to the beach and share a cottage with them? She rolled her eyes. The heat must be getting to her. She glanced again at her watch, he was going to be in so much trouble...

"Ruka?"

Ruka turned around, expecting to see the blond boy who had dragged her here. And she did see a boy with blond locks, however his eyes were blue, not green. She took a step back, strangely uncomfortable in his presence. "Hanabusa? What are you doing here?"

Aidou opened his mouth to answer, but shut up when he heard people around them whispering.

"Wow, look how cool those two look!"

"They're such a pretty couple, I'm so jealous!"

"Yeah, you can see they're perfect for each other!"

"Damn it, I was going to ask her out!"

He could see Ruka being angered by the assumptions being made about them two. Well, it was inevitable, really. Two extraordinarily good-looking people together were sure to attract attentions. Still, instead of posing and annoying her, he decided it was best to just get this done and over with. "Ruka, I wanted to apolo..."

"RUKA-CHAN!" Both Ruka and Aidou looked ahead to see an out-of-breath Ichijou running in their direction. "Ruka-chan, I'm so sorry I made you wait for so long."

"That's okay, you're here now. Where should we go first, Takuma-sama?" Ichijou's happy smile nearly vanished. _"Please, call me Taku-chan." _Ruka's eyes widened in realization. 'Such a simple request...' Well, if that was what he wanted, why not? After all, it wouldn't hurt to indulge him by using this little nickname. She smiled warmly. "I mean, Taku-chan."

Ichijou's lovely smile re-appeared and he was going to reply when Aidou, who was quite puzzled, interrupted him. "'Taku-chan?' What's going on?"

Green eyes glittered and Ichijou put his arm around Ruka's shoulders. "Aidou-kun, isn't it obvious? Ruka-chan and I are on a date!"

"What?!"

"What?!"

Both Ruka and Aidou couldn't believe their ears. Ichijou grinned and gently put his palms under their chins, closing their open mouths. He winked and stuck his tongue out. "Joking. Ruka-chan and I are merely enjoying a day out together. So Aidou-kun, if you don't mind, we'll see you later." He grabbed Ruka's shoulders and walked off, pushing her gently in the right direction. "Bye, Aidou-kun!"

________________________________

Loosing the golden-blond from his sight, Ichijou let out a sigh of relief. "There, I don't think he can hear us now. Ruka-chan, are you okay?"

"Yes, why wouldn't I be?" Ruka was confused with Ichijou's behaviour. She was sure he'd invite Aidou along.

Ichijou gave her a thoughtful smile and replied to her unvoiced question. "I didn't invite him because I could sense that you weren't comfortable."

This sentence made her frown slightly. 'I was being weak?'

Ichijou noticed her expression changing. "Ruka-chan, let's go get some ice-cream. I know this little shop that makes the tastiest ice-cream ever. And then we can go to the park. I love going there around the time for sunset. Have you ever been there during the day?"

Ruka let herself be dragged into the shop by the chatty vampire. The mood was quite lively, and the colours were garish, but that didn't cheer her up. She wasn't sad, but she wasn't in a happy mood either. 'What am I doing, I don't even want to be here.' She looked at Ichijou, who was grinning as usual and rambling on about some new show he was watching. He was doing this for her, so the least she could do was try and have fun.

"Ruka-chan, what flavour would you like?"

"Hum, vanilla, please."

"Vanilla and strawberry, thank you. Okay, Ruka-chan, here's yours. We can eat on the way to the park." Ichijou seemed to be in a hurry. He wanted to make Ruka feel better and he was sure the park was just the thing. He had promised Kain that he would take care of her in case Aidou screwed up. He smiled thoughtfully. Kain already knew Aidou would make a mistake, but none of them thought it would be so soon.

Ruka looked around. She'd been to the park before, at nigh, and right now she wasn't recognizing this particular path. They weren't going the right way, were they? "Taku..."

Ichijou looked over his shoulder and interrupted her, smiling warmly. "Trust me."

"_Trust me." _During the whole time she'd known him, he had never given her reasons not to trust him, so why not? She noticed that they were seeing less and less buildings as they went along, until they stopped in front of a huge bush. Ichijou took her hand and opened a little path through the vegetation, passing to the other side. "Where are w..." Ruka's breath caught in her throat when she turned around.

They were in a circle of overgrown hedges, with an old fountain in the middle. Red roses paved the green walls, while a small breech showed the pond that Ruka recognised as the main attraction of the park. Weeds drew patterns on the marble surface of the fountain, creating mini-labyrinths. Even though it looked broken, water still flowed from it, creating a beautifully nostalgic painting, frozen in the silver web of time.

"We're in the old part of the park. The pond is artificial and when it was made this fountain was just forgotten. I thought that it would be a place you'd like, since it isn't noisy, and no-one comes here."

Ruka touched the hard, cold stone. It somehow soothed her. "It's beautiful."

"Ruka..." Ruka looked at him. It was the first time in ages that he said her name without the suffix chan. He continued, locking his gaze with hers. "We've known each other for quite a long time now, and I feel like we've never really talked. I can see that there's something troubling you. I remember the time when you were the little girl that was always talking excitedly about her Kaname-sama, but ever since we came to the Academy, I've noticed you're not the same."

Ruka could feel tears pricking her eyes. 'Don't. Don't you dare cry.' "Everyone changes. It's a fact of life."

"Yes, but... Ruka-chan, I'm your friend. You can trust me. I hate seeing you like this, it's like you're dying inside a bit everyday, and I can't stand seeing any of my friends like that. Please tell me what's wrong."

His voice sounded so concerned. How had he noticed? Why had he noticed? Everything came back to her at once. The using, the gentle ignoring, everything. Her eyes couldn't keep dry anymore. Why was she crying now? She'd never cry in front os other people. Except Kain. Kain had taken the wall around her apart bit by bit, and Ichijou had just destroyed the last remnant of it. Liquid pearls slided down her cheeks, and her voice faltered.

She felt tender arms snake around her as Ichijou hugged her. He didn't say anything, didn't ask her to stop crying. He didn't tell her to force a smile, and for that she was silently thankful.

_________________________________

The door of the Moon Dorm creaked. It wasn't night yet, and the two figures didn't want to wake anyone up. Ruka's face was flustered, but she felt lighter than ever before. She and Ichijou hadn't said anything to each other, but she felt better than if they'd exchanged the most heartfelt of conversations. She had cried her frustrations out, while he'd shown his friendship by just being there. Of course, they would never talk about this ever again. He understood that she didn't wish for it to be common knowledge.

Ichijou grinned. "Ruka-chan, thank you for keeping me company today."

Ruka smiled as well. "It was my pleasure, Taku-chan."

As they went up the stairs to go to their respective rooms, a pair of aqua-marine eyes followed them.

* * *

There's the third chapter^^ What did you think? Like it? Hate it? Just tell me and review, because it makes me happy and keeps me writing! Hope you're enjoying the story. And, Kain lovers, don't worry, he will be back ;)

And even if you're not registered, you can review and tell me what you think, I really like reading other people's opinions and constructive criticism.


	4. Obviously

Chapter 4. Obviously

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Vampire Knight....unfortunately....

* * *

"Sleep well, Ruka-chan." Ichijou closed her bedroom's door, careful not ot make any unnecessary noise, and walked to his bedroom. He was quite please with himself. He'd made a friend feel better, and that filled him with endless joy.

"Ichijou."

He turned around, and emerald green found aqua-marine blue. "Aidou-kun, how are you? Did you have a good day?"

The reply was not as cheerful as the question. "What do you think you're doing? You call taking her to town taking care of her? If Akatsuki knew, he'd kill you."

Ichijou smirked. "I never knew you were so worried about me. Aidou-kun, I do think that Kain-kun would prefer her to have a good time instead of being harassed for a drink."

Aidou felt the blood rush to his pale cheeks. "That was a joke! Besides, she's the one who over-reacted!"

Ichijou sighed, fighting against the urge to roll his eyes. "Aidou-kun, you gloat about being the girl's Idol, so you should know better than that. Rima-chan would have had the same reaction, unless you were Shiki-kun."

The golden-blond looked to the side, slightly ashamed of his barbaric behaviour. "Whatever..."

Ichijou took Aidou's hand, placing something in it. "I brought you this for your collection, in case you thought we'd forgotten about you. Remember, there's no reason to be jealous." The happy boy walked away, dissolving in the corridor's darkness.

Aidou opened his hand. An ice cream spoon. His eyes shone like a child's, it was so pretty! But something took his attention away from the shiny object. _'There's no reason to be jealous.'_ Why would he be jealous? He'd had a perfectly nice time without them. Smoothing his gold strands, he looked at the object once more, imagining how it would look among his treasures.

____________________

Monday. Ruka sighed, slightly exasperated. She knew the Day Class girls would be waiting outside. In fact, they were already giving her a terrible headache, screaming at the top of their lungs from the other side of the walls. How silly of them. As if Kaname would look at them. But... he wouldn't look at her either, so how different were they? She looked at him, the one who had been the object of her devotion for so long. Somehow, her heart didn't clench as much as the last time that she looked at him.

The gates opened, and the screaming became unbearably louder.

"Kaname-senpai!"

"Idol-senpai!"

"Ichijo-senpai!"

"Please, stay back!" Ruka searched for the owner of the voice. Yuuki was having difficulty keeping the female crowds at bay again. On the other side, the silver-haired ex-Level E was simply watching the vampires with suspicious eyes. No, he was looking at ... Yuuki? Ruka wondered what he could be thinking about. His eyes didn't seem as cold as when he looked at them or at other humans.

"Yuuki, are you faring well?" Kaname asked his little protegée the question that always indicated his concern for her and sparked jealousy from everyone around.

Yuuki, blushing like a pretty tomato, bowed down and answered. "Y-yes, Kaname...senpai."

He knew he wouldn't get a better answer than that. "I'm glad." Kaname held his hand out to touch her rosy cheeks, but his wrist was ungracefully grabbed. "Kiryuu-kun, how nice of you to join us."

"Zero, what are..."

Zero ignored her. "Kuran, you're going to be late for your classes."

Kaname took his wrist out of Zero's hand, bowed to Yuuki, and left. Making sure that the pureblood couldn't listen to her, Yuuki started punching Zero's arm. "Baka! Why do you always have to be so rude?"

Zero then kept her away by placing his palm on her forehead. "If I didn't do anything, you'd drown in your own drool!"

"Would not!"

"Would too!"

Ruka chuckled inwardly. Funny how she'd never noticed their little scenes before. She'd always been too wrapped up in her role as Kaname's 'protector'. She wondered what else she hadn't noticed.

__________________________

"So, you will all have to pair up and prepare an essay about this. The groups of three will be chosen at random." The teacher finished speaking and walked to a box filled with golden cards, each of them elegantly engraved with the name of a student.

"Argh, this is stupid!" Aidou let his face hit the desk, something he regretted right away once his nose turned red. "Why do we have to do this essay anyway, I have more important stuff to do."

Shiki played a bit with his hair. "They like to keep us occupied. It refrains us from hunting."

The teacher's voice was heard all over the classroom, as everyone wanted to know who their partner would be. "Senri, you will work with... Touya."

Aidou crossed his arms. "Pff! You two are always together, it's so predictable..."

"Souen, you will work with... Aidou."

Both Ruka and Aidou looked at each other, obviously displeased with the result. "Oh great, she'll probably make me do work. Argh, I miss Akatsuki, he'd do it all by himself."

Ruka wasn't any happier. She massaged her head. 'That idiot will probably try not to do anything...' But there was still one person who would join them, and that calmed her.

"Kaname-sama, you will work with... Souen and Aidou."

Ruka nearly gasped. She was so happy, she could almost cry, feeling her heart beating uncontrollably. Aidou himself was excited about the promise of working with the pureblood. However, that happiness was short lived, as the feeling was murdered by simple words.

"I am truly sorry, but I have a great amount of work. Do you think Ichijou could fill in for me?"

The old vampire teacher bowed. "Of course, Kaname-sama. Forgive me for not having taken that into consideration."

Kaname smiled graciously. "It is of no importance."

_______________________

The Moon Dorm's library was empty, with the exception of a group of three students, one of which was particularly lively.

"Ruka-chan, Aidou-kun, we're working together, isn't that great?" Ichijou was radiating happiness and joy as usual. The other two, however, weren't so excited.

Aidou yawned. "Let's just do this before she over-reacts over nothing again..."

"I agree that we should just divide the tasks up so that I don't have to see his face again..."

"Attacking my face, are we? I wouldn't speak if I had that hair, honey! Embarrassing is what I call it."

"The only embarrassing thing here is your face, dear."

He narrowed his blue eyes. "You're lucky that I don't say what I think..."

"If you did say what you think, you'd be speechless, wouldn't you?"

Before Aidou could reply, Ichijou remarked. "You know, you sort of look like an old married couple, it's really cute."

He was met by angry glares coming from the other two. Aidou nearly shouted. "Are you joking? Ruka and me will never happen!"

Ruka rolled her eyes. "I think you'll find it's actually 'Ruka and _I_ will never happen.' Nevertheless, I agree completely."

Ichijou grinned from ear to ear. "Ruka-chan, does that mean I have a chance to be your knight in shining armour, sweeping you off your feet, and carry you far, far away, with the sunset as the background?"

She giggled, shaking her head. "Taku-chan, you read too many mangas. Seriously. I'm going to get the science book." Ruka stood up, amused.

Aidou whispered to Ichijou. "What do you think you're doing? Akatsuki won't be happy if he hears about this!"

Ichijou whispered back. "I'm just joking. Besides, I already told you that you don't have to be jealous, haven't I?"

"I'm not jealous! Why would I?" Aidou crossed his arms, and turned his face away.

"Really? You know, I remember a certain boy who used to be jealous of the attention Ruka-chan gave Kaname-sama. Was it the attention, or was it the person it came from that you really liked?"

"You're making no sense, you know that? You're just making stuff up so you can tell Akatsuki that..." Aidou stopped himself. He didn't know what to say next. Why was Ichijou making this up?

Ichijou smirked. "That what, Aidou-kun? I simply find it strange that you would be acting like this, but then again, I don't know you as well as Kain-kun, so I guess I shouldn't be making assumptions."

"Exactly. You shouldn't be making stuff up in your mind." Aidou was talking as if he knew that he had been right all along, and a touch of superiority was unmissable in his voice.

"Here's the book. Have you two decided who's doing what?" Ruka sat down again.

Ichijou opened the book and ran his finger through the contents page. "So... Ruka-chan, do you mind researching about it's edible properties? And Aidou-kun, you can write about it's use in medicine. As for me, I'll study it's symbolism. Are you two okay with it, or do you want to change something?"

"I'm okay with my task. What about you, Hanabusa?"

Aidou was playing with his blue marble. "I'm fine, it's pretty easy."

___________________________

The clock struck midnight, and Ruka was still in the library, looking for the book that she'd found earlier that night. Ichijou had put it back, so she didn't know where it was. Passing near the windows, she looked out. Silver strands shining in the moonlight caught her attention. The ex-Level E, Zero, was patrolling the area, as usual.

But where was Yuuki, the girl who always seemed to be so intimate with Kaname? Ruka had always wondered about their relationship. When Yuuki was younger, she'd thought that it was a brother-sister kind of bond, but lately it looked like it could be much more than that... And Zero isolated himself from them, always trying to get Yuuki away from Kaname. She wondered if it was just because he hated vampires or...

'He's in love with her.' It was so easy to see it now. Zero was in love with Yuuki. But did Yuuki feel the same? 'Interesting.' Ruka looked around, realising that she wouldn't find what she wanted unless she raided all of the shelves, and there too many of them. Maybe she could just pursue this new whim then.

__________________________

Yuuki heard light steps disturbing the grass in the dark. She quickly took out Artemis, her weapon, and demanded. "Show yourself." A divine-looking girl came out of the shadows. Her eyes shone as diamonds, and Yuuki recognized her instantly. "Ruka-san?"

Ruka tossed her hair behind her, and eyed Artemis disapprovingly. "Could you put that thing away?"

Yuuki put her weapon back in its place. She was sure Ruka wouldn't cause trouble. "What are you doing out here? Night Class students shouldn't be out."

"I know the rules. I just want to ask you something."

The shorter-haired girl blinked. "Me?"

"Yes. What's the exact nature of your relationship with Kaname-sama?"

Yuuki blushed visibly. "Well, he... he saved me when I was just a child, so I pretty much owe him my life."

"I see..." Ruka paused and cocked her head to the side. "What about Kyriuu. What do you feel towards him?"

Yuuki was confused. "Zero? He's my friend. Sure, he can be annoying sometimes, well, most of the time, but he still helps me. Why do you ask?"

"Nothing, just curiosity." Ruka disappeared in the shadows again, leaving a rather confused Yuuki behind.

____________________

Ruka was thinking back to her conversation with Yuuki, wondering why she had even cared enough to ask those questions. Her head was killing her again. Seeing Ichijou, she put those thoughts aside. "Taku-chan!" Ichijou turned around and waved, smiling. "Taku-chan, could you tell me where you put the science book? I can't find it anywhere."

"Sorry, I checked it out. I was reading it upstairs while inspecting the spare rooms for Kaname's report and forgot it." He rummaged through his pockets. "I don't have the keys, and Kaname must be sleeping now. I'll go there tomorrow, so we can meet there and I'll give it to you, is that okay?"

"Yeah, it's fine. See you tomorrow."

__________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

Alright! Fourth chapter is up! Again, please tell me what you think, it really does keep me going^^!

From now on, I'm thinking of including Zero and Yuuki a bit more, what do you think? And Shiki and Rima should have more lines as well. Oh, and Akatsuki is coming back soon!

Oohh, what will happen next? You can have a guess, I think it's really fun to see what some people think :)


	5. Five colours in her hair

Chapter 5. Five colours in her hair

**Disclaimer:** I don't own it. Seriously...

* * *

"Shiki."

Shiki turned around to find his beautiful model friend. He rubbed hie sleepy eyes. "Are you ready? We have two photo shoots today."

"Mm." Rima was going to pick up her parasol when she noticed it was raining outside. Her slender hand then chose an umbrella big enough for the two of them. "Is it going to rain the whole day?"

"That's what they said. Shall we?" Shiki opened the door and Rima opened her umbrella. They walked in the direction of a certain black limousine, where their manager was eagerly awaiting for her two favourite models.

A draft of air hit them. "It's cold." Upon hearing Rima's soft, monotone voice, Shiki took his jacket off and covered her shoulders with it. The pigtailed girl didn't say anything, but then again, she never had to. If she did, then he wasn't doing his job properly.

______________________

Ruka leaned on the wall, trying to steady her vision. Her head was killing her and she was soaking wet, thanks to a bedroom window that Rima had opened and forgotten to close. Her headache from yesterday had worsened extremely. Ichijou better not be late this time, she wanted to go back to bed before classes. Going up the stairs to the third floor, she could feel the coldness of her clothes whenever she passed near a window.

"Ruka?"

"Hanabusa? What are you doing here?" Ruka walked towards the door, next to which was Aidou. She didn't mind being near him anymore, after all he had just been joking about the blood thing, as Ichijou had reminded her.

"I need the science book and Ichijou said it's here, and that I should wait for him." Looking at her, he frowned, slightly worried. She was much paler than usual, and lack of blood wasn't the best of news when you're a vampire. "Are you okay, you seem a bit ill."

Ruka shrugged it off. "It's nothing, just a headache."

"Are you sure?" Aidou got closer to her. "Your skin is so pale..." He gently touched her forehead. His voice was filled with concern and a hint of panic. "Ruka, you're burning in fever! We have to get you to the medical room."

She swatted his hand away. "I'm fine. Plus, we have to wait for Taku-chan."

He half-snorted. "He's not here, you don't have to call him that, okay? And I'm sure he'll understand. You can barely stand without leaning on the wall, we have to go." Aidou grabbed her hand, but she resisted.

She repeated, through clenched teeth."Hanabusa, I'm fine, I just need some rest."

Aidou didn't say anything. 'Fine, if this is how she wants it to be...' He picked her up in his arms, careful not to do it too suddenly.

Predictably, she struggled, kicking and trying to get him to let her go. "Hanabusa, put me down right now, this isn't funny!"

He just tightened his grip, in order to prevent her from hurting him or getting away. "No. You're sick and I'm taking you to the medical room, so you might as well just give up. I'm doing this for you, so don't struggle."

Ruka simply crossed her arms and huffed.

________________________________________

Yuuki was sleeping soundly, and her happy face gave away the content of her dreams. Her giggles helped too. "Kaname-senpai... tee-hee!"

SPLASH!

Yuuki woke up immediately, cold water having been poured over her. "ARGH! What happened!?" Next to her bed, with an empty bucket on his hand, was Zero, a hint of a smirk plastered on his lips.

"It's time for school. Yori told me you asked her to wake you up, but you wouldn't stop dreaming and giggling over Kaname."

Yuuki's face turned a deep, deep red. She'd been talking during her sleep? And Yori and Zero had heard it! She punched him. "B-baka! You didn't have to pour cold water on me, did you?"

"You wouldn't wake up any other way. Plus, I helped you. You were drooling so much, your face is all sticky."

"Is not! Just because of that, I'm not going to get out of bed!"

CLICK

Zero held up a camera. "Fine, don't get up. But now everyone is going to now that you peed your bed."

"WHAT? ZERO, GIVE ME THAT!" Yuuki ran around the room, trying to get the camera from Zero.

"No, you can't have it." Zero oppened the door, just to find the Chairman.

"Yuuki, you...you peed your bed? Oh, my dear child, come to daddy's arms! Do you want daddy to buy you some nappies?"

_______________________________________

Ichijou was going up the stairs in a hurry, as usual. Kaname gave him so much work that it was nearly impossible to keep up with it all. When he finally arrived to the corridor of the rooms on the third floor, he saw that no-one was there.

'Strange, I thought I was late.' Whilst he was walking towards the door, he picked up two distinct, but mingling scents: lavender and roses. Aidou and Ruka had been there before. 'Where did they go? The door's locked.'

Ichijou wondered where else they could have gone. He just hoped nothing bad had happened. Suddenly, something made him panic. Near the stairs, he found fresh blood. What if Aidou...

_______________________________________

Aidou flinched as the nurse rubbed his arm with a special disinfecting liquid. "Next time you're thinking of scratching me, please tell me."

Ruka, lying down on the bed, rolled her eyes."I already told you it was an accident, how many times do I have to say sorry?"

"One thousand times. You pierced my beautiful, delicately soft skin." Aidou touched the sore area around the cut.

"Geez, you're such a girl..."

"Hey!"

She continued, in a more subdued voice. "But I guess I should thank you..."

Blinking, a surprised Aidou stopped touching his arm and paid attention to what Ruka was saying. 'Thank me?'

"The nurse said I could have developed a serious condition if you hadn't brought me here right away. Apparently, it isn't just a normal fever. So, thank you for bringing me here."

For a moment, Aidou was speechless. Ruka had never thanked him for anything. True, he never did anything worthy of a thank you, but still. "Y-you're welcome..."

_______________________

"Okay, Shiki-kun, Touya-san, could you move a little closer?" The photographer positioned his lens. "And Shiki-kun, could you hug her a bit closer to you? No, that's too close. Okay, that's perfect."

Shiki looked at Rima discretely. They'd done this so many times that it was just like holding hands or sitting next to each other. He was used to the play of orange and red colours in her hair caused by the lights. Nothing special. However, it always felt special, somehow.

After the photo shoot, Shiki gave Rima a towel. "You worked hard today, you're sweating."

Rima touched her forehead and replied. "The lights were strong."

"Yes, but the pictures came out really good. We truly look like a couple in them."

Rima drank a bit of juice. It was so easy to fabricate facts. "Just like in real life."

___________________________________________

"Give me the camera."

"No."

"Give me the camera."

"No."

"Give me the camera."

"No."

"Give me the camera."

"No."

"Give me the camera."

"No."

"Give me the camera."

"No."

"Please?"

"Well, since you're being so polite..... No."

"Zero, you are sooooo annoying! Just give it to me! I mean, what does it matter to you anyway?"

"Well, it's a great way to annoy you, so..."

"Fine! Then I don't care about it!"

"Okay, if you don't care, I guess I can just show it to everyone."

"No, waaaaaait!"

____________________________________________

Ichijou was running like mad, where could they be? He looked in Aidou's room, Ruka's room, and everywhere he could think of. He was so worried, he almost felt sick. Sick, of course! They could be in the medical room! If Aidou truly had tried to drink Ruka's blood, she would have probably beat him to a pulp, so it was very likely that they were there.

Ichijou opened the door quickly, calling out: "Ruka-chan?" He looked around, and his eyes caught sight of Aidou's golden hair. The blue-eyed vampire was sat next to a sleeping Ruka's bed, reading a book. "Aidou-kun? What happened?"

"Oh, it's you. Well, Ruka felt ill and I brought her here."

That was it? But... "What about the blood? There was fresh blood on the floor next to the stairs."

"Well, she was a bit reluctant to come, and somehow her nails found their way into my arm." Aidou rubbed his arm a bit.

Ichijou let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness. I thought... it doesn't matter, the important thing is that everything's okay." His attention focused on Ruka. "Is she going to be alright?"

"Yeah, the nurse already gave her some medicines and said she just needs to rest now."

Ichijou smiled. "Well, I imagine you have stuff to do, so I can stay here in your place."

"No." The bright-blond boy frowned, slightly confused at the refusal from the other aristocrat. Since when did Hanabusa Aidou miss a day's sleep? "I brought her here, so I'll stay here with her."

"Okay. But if you need help, just call." The Vice President leaned closer to Ruka and whispered. "Bye bye, Ruka-chan. Take care."

Seeing Ichijou leave, Aidou looked at Ruka. Her hair spread around the pillow, creating waterfalls that remained in the air, as if trapped in time, never touching the floor. The ambiguously coloured strands shone with either golden tones or brown hues. Aidou found himself touching them, twirling the strands around his fingers. 'So soft...'

His hands followed the tresses upwards, the brown locks captivating his blue pools. He abruptly stopped himself before touching her face and massaged his temples. Her rosy scent clung to his fingers, reminding him of what he'd just done. 'Stupid...'

________________________________________________

"Ichijou."

Ichijou looked up, his emerald eyes meeting glinting dark-brown orbs. "Oh, Kaname, hi. I'm just finishing up some reports."

"I see. How are Ruka and Aidou? I didn't seen them in class today. I hope everything's okay."

The blond grinned reassuringly. "Yup, don't worry. Ruka-chan's just a bit ill, but she's in the medical room and Aidou-kun is taking care of her."

Kaname was mildly surprised. "Aidou? I never thought I'd see the day those two wouldn't bicker." He smiled, chuckling a bit. "I wonder what Kain will think of this. He will surely be happy that they are getting along. Good night, Ichijou."

"Good night Kaname. Or good day." Ichijou looked at the papers in front of him and sighed. Opening his drawer, he picked up an old photograph. 'I'm so sorry, Kain-kun...'

* * *

And here we are, the end of another chapter :)

I've noticed recently there have been quite a few subscribers to this story (YAY! Well, quite is an overstatement, but it's all good!). Anyway, drop me a line, say your opinion, whatever you like (I like to know there is someone out there, hehe...)

Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and as always PLEASE REVIEW ;)


	6. Baby's coming back

Chapter 6. Baby's coming back

**Disclaimer:**Me? Owning VK? That's silly. You're silly...

* * *

Pinkish brown orbs opened up slowly, weary of the light coming through the window. Ruka turned her head to see that it was dawn, and the Sun was still rising in the soft celestial blend of pinks and yellows. A red petal fell on her hair and she looked up. In the table next to her was a jar of red roses. A lonely, empty stool was the only proof that anyone had ever been by her side.

Ruka sat down and slowly rubbed her eyes, a metallic taste of blood lacing her mouth. Where was she again? Oh yeah, the medical room. She'd been there all night? She'd had a terribly confusing dream, of which only the blurry image of a blond-haired person remained. She didn't even remember flowers being there before. A name appeared on her mind. Where was Aidou?

A blond head peeked though the door from the corridor, accompanied by a familiar grin. "Ruka-chan, are you feeling better?"

She blinked. "Taku-chan? Yeah, I'm feeling fine but, where's Hanabusa?"

Ichijou smiled and walked to the bed next to Ruka's. He drew the curtains away, and there was Aidou, drooling on his pillow. "He fell asleep, the poor thing. He took care of you all day and night long. He must have been really exhausted to not mind an unscented pillow, don't you think?"

"Really?" That surprised her a lot. She thought he'd just go back to his room after she'd fallen asleep. Maybe she should evaluate her opinion of Aidou. "Were these flowers here before?"

An indescribable emotion flickered behind his eyes. "No... Kaname sent them to wish you a good recovery."

Ruka blushed immediately. Kaname had sent them? A small, albeit genuine, smile was formed by her red lips. "That was nice of Kaname-sama..."

Ichijou sat on the stool. He replied, absent-minded. "Yes, it was..." He touched her forehead. "Your fever seems to be getting better, and you're recovering much quicker than expected. You'll be able to come back in no time."

They heard grunting coming from the bed next to them. Stretching and yawning, Aidou rubbed his eyes. "Where am I?" He looked at Ichijou. "Hey, you're sitting in my place! I told you I don't need your help."

Ichijou just grinned. "Aidou-kun, it's morning already."

Aidou looked at his watch, which agreed with Ichijou's statement. "You mean I fell asleep? When?"

"Exactly at 2.46 am. You lasted much longer than I expected, though."

Aidou didn't like the last part of the sentence. "Shut up... Ruka, are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah, much better. Actually, I think I can leave now." Ruka made a move to get off the bed.

"No!"

"No!"

Ruka looked at the two boys with outstretched arms, both telling her to stop. "Ruka-chan, you might have a relapse! We have to be sure you're okay."

"Taku-chan, I feel fine and my fever is almost gone."

Aidou decided to speak. "Okay, you can go. But only after we get the nurse to allow it. I don't want to be blamed if anything happens."

After the nurse said it was alright for her to go and Ichijou assured her that he would give her the book later, Ruka didn't loose any time getting out of there. Places like medical rooms and hospitals made her look too vulnerable for her liking. Walking through the sunny corridors, she noticed that some Day Class girls were outside the Moon Dorm, holding cameras. How very annoying.

____________________________

Ichijou was siting at his desk, going through the paperwork Kaname had given him. He knew that the brown-haired pureblood had even more work to do, so he was quite glad with his share. Noticing an old photo that he'd forgotten to place back in his drawer, he smiled. That picture of a rose brought him so many memories...

___________

_*Flashback*_

_Little Ichijou was walking around Aidou's big mansion. Kaname's parents had brought him along, and while they were talking to the owners of the place, he and Kaname had the idea of exploring the house. __While his best friend was looking around the inside and meeting someone called Hanabusa, he thought he should see the gardens. His green eyes shone at the thought that they might have roses! _

_Suddenly, he heard girly voices. Standing on his toes, he managed to look above a hedge, being able to see two very pretty girls. One had short golden-brown hair, while the other one had two red pigtails. However, what caught his attention was the flaming locks on the other side, also peeking above the hedge._

_Walking around, he found another little boy, probably his own age, with fiery red strands. "Hi."_

_The other boy fell down, surprised at the sudden sound of an unfamiliar voice. _

_Ichijou helped him up. "I'm Takuma Ichijou, but you can call me Taku-chan. What's your name?"_

"_Akatsuki Kain."_

"_Nice to meet you. So, were you watching the pretty girls?"_

_Kain's face became as red as his hair__, and he shook his head energetically to each side. "N-no! I wasn't peeking, honest!"_

_The blond boy's face showed a wondering expression, which was quickly replaced by a joyful glow. "You like one of them, don't you, Aka-chan?" He stood on his toes again__, trying to see the girls again. "Which one? Which one?"_

_Kain pulle__d him back. "Shhh! They're going to hear you!"_

_Ichijou immediately covered his mouth and lowered his voice. "Oh, sorry!" He got closer to Kain. "So, which one is it?"_

_Kain blushed again and whispered silently. __"Ruka-chan."_

"_Ruka-chan?"_

_Kain nodded. __"Yup, she's the one with brown hair."_

"_Have you told her?"_

_Kain shook his head vehemently. __"No, no! I can't, I..."_

"_I see... Don't worry, Aka-chan, I'll help you." Ichijou stood on his toes again. "RUKA-CHAN!" He then quickly ducked and ran away, leaving Kain alone._

_Ruka stood up and peeked to the other side. "Akatsuki-kun? Did you call me?"_

_Kain fiddled with his fingers. "Erm...I...no." _

_Ruka frowned. He was the only one there. "Mm. Do you want to play with us?" She stretched her hand to him._

"_O-okay." He took her hand and climbed the hedge. Looking around him, he spotted white-gold locks peeking on the other side._

_*end of flashback*_

_________

Ichijou smiled as he remembered the event. He'd been sure that the next time he met Kain, he and Ruka would be happily together, but that was not meant to be, for she had fallen for Kaname instead. However, Kain continued to be by her side, a characteristic Ichijou had always admired in the red-haired boy.

__________________

Aidou was walking towards his room when he noticed some human girls outside. He looked around, making sure that no-one was there. Licking his lips, he smirked.

A girl with long brown hair spotted him. "Look Meiko, it's Idol-senpai!"

The other girl, with short black shiny hair, exclaimed. "Wow, let's take a picture!"

Aidou jumped out of the window and gracefully landed near them, hands in his pockets, causing them to stare in awe. "Now now, what are these lovely ladies doing here? Did you get lost or were you looking for me?"

The brown-haired girl nudged the other one. "Meiko, he thinks we're lovely!"

The blushing girl replied, nervous. "O-of course we were looking for you, Idol-senpai!"

Aidou smiled innocently. "Hey, how about we all play a game? It's really simple. All you have to do is close your eyes and only open them when I tell you to."

The girls exchanged looks and blushed even more. "What for?"

Aidou gave them his trademark wink. "It's a surprise!"

Both girls giggled and closed their eyes. Aidou couldn't help smirking at how easy this was being. He got closer to one of the girls and opened his mouth, baring his sharp white fangs. As he was about to touch her neck, he stopped. Something didn't feel right. This didn't feel right. For some reason, he couldn't bring himself to steal this girl's blood. He just felt... strangely unmotivated.

______________________________________________

"Cross-san!"

Yuuki woke up at the sound of the teacher's angry voice. Beside her, Yori sighed. "Didn't get enough sleep again?"

Yuuki yawned. "Yeah... I was worrying all night that Zero would show people the picture of me..."

"You shouldn't worry about it. Kiryuu-kun would never do something like that. At least, never to you."

The last part caught Yuuki's attention. "Eh? How can you be so sure?"

Yori smiled knowingly, throwing a quick glance at Zero. "Call it a guess."

____________________________________________

Ruka frowned. She was prepared to stop Aidou if he bit the girls, but it looked like he wasn't sure about doing it. She watched as he shortened the distance between him and the girl's neck for a second time, just to withdraw again.

Aidou looked around to see if he could find an explanation for his inability and, looking up, his eyes met hers. His baby-blue orbs suddenly became hard, and he walked away from the girls, disappearing from Ruka's sight.

The Souen heiress decided to tell the girls to go back, as night would swiftly fall. Jumping out of the window, she remembered the name that one of them had called the other. "Meiko-san."

The black-haired girl opened her eyes, followed by her friend. "Ruka-san? Whe-where is..."

"Hanabusa had to take care of some affairs, so he asked me to tell you that he was very sorry that he couldn't finish the game and hopes you won't be mad."

They stood up, dusting the earth off their knees. "No, no, that's okay. Please tell him that we don't mind at all." They bowed and quickly left to their dorm, fearing their Dorm President's reaction for having skipped lesson.

Far away from them, Aidou had his face in his hands. 'I can't... Not now...'

_______________________________________________

Ichijou heard a knock on his door. "Come in."

"Taku-chan, am I intruding?"

He took his eyes away from the papers to see Ruka. "Of course not. How can I help you?"

"Well, you told me to come here before sunset, remember?"

"Oh, right, sorry! Yes, I have the book right here." He brushed some papers to the side and managed to dig up a thick book. "I got it today after you left the medical room. Here."

Ruka took the book. "Thank you."

Ichijou stood up and walked around his desk, stopping in front of her. "Are you feeling okay? Did your headache return?"

"No, I've been fine all day."

Ichijou smiled as usual. "Good, I'm glad. Here." He took a red rose from a jar on his desk. "For feeling better."

The door opened and both turned to see who it was. Ruka nearly let the book fall. "Akatsuki?"

* * *

And Kain is back! Sorry if I took too long updating, my Art teacher asks us to do too muck work...

Anyway, please tell me your opinion, I hope you like it.

PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW ^_^


	7. Falling in love

Chapter 7. Falling in love

**Disclaimer:**One, two, three! Who owns VK? Not me!

* * *

"Akatsuki?" Ruka hadn't seen him for so long, she'd almost forgotten how fiery his hair was.

Ichijou quickly put the rose back in the jar and greeted him. "Kain-kun, you're back! How was your family reunion?"

"Normal. I came back earlier because I heard Ruka was sick." He touched her forehead. "How are you feeling now?"

"I'm fine, it wasn't anything serious." She didn't want him to worry. "Who told you?"

Ichijou smiled sheepishly. "I did, I thought he should know."

"I still have to thank you for that. Hanabusa didn't even remember to send a message about it, he's so unreliable..."

Ruka's temper flared up slightly. "You shouldn't say that about your cousin. He's the one who took me to the medical room."

Kain was surprised by Ruka's defence of Aidou. "Well, I'll thank him then. Ichijou, can we talk?"

"Sure. Ruka-chan, see you later then. And don't do anything that will cause a relapse."

"Don't worry, Taku-chan. Akatsuki, welcome back." Ruka closed the door behind her.

"Kain-kun, please sit down and we can talk."

Kain simply leaned against the wall and crossed his arms.

"Or that." Ichijou sat down behind his desk. "So, talkie talkie, Aka-chan!"

Kain decided to ignore his little nickname. "So, what happened while I was gone?"

"Nothing, really. With the exception of Ruka-chan falling ill, obviously."

Kain asked abruptly. "Since when do you call her 'chan'?"

Ichijou was taken aback by the immediacy of the question, together with the harsh tone. However, it was understandable. "Ever since you asked me to take care of her. I thought it was nice, but if you don't like it, I'll stop."

Kain regretted his immaturity. "You don't have to, I was just curious. So Hanabusa was the one who took her to the medical room?"

"Yep, he even stayed by her side until she woke up. So I guess he became responsible while you were away."

Kain smirked slightly. In his mind, 'Hanabusa' and 'responsible' didn't go together. But something kept annoying him. The scene that he'd witnessed when he entered the room. Ichijou giving Ruka a rose. He knew there had to be a logical reason for it, but it irritated him nonetheless... "So, what were you and Ruka doing when I came in?"

Ichijou knew what he wanted to know. As soon as Kain had entered, he knew the rose would be a topic of conversation. But no way was he going down that slippery slope if he could avoid it. "We and Aidou-kun have to research something for class."

Kain's eyebrows creased. "I was talking about the thing you were giving her..."

"What do you mean, Aka-chan?"

"You know what I mean."

"Oh, of course! I gave Ruka-chan the book about scien..."

Kain slammed his fist violently against the wall. "Stop avoiding it!"

__________________________________________

Aidou closed the door behind him. He saw Shiki lying on the sofa, his head on Rima's lap, while she fed him pocky. Walking towards the other sofa, he let himself fall.

"Careful."

Aidou almost jumped back up. He'd nearly sat on Ruka, who was reading some book. The blond straightened his back immediately. He was furious that Ruka had seen him hesitate. The worst part was that the only explanation he found for his inability was preposterously ridiculous. So ridiculous that he would never think about it again. Ever.

Aidou recognised the book. "Ichijou gave you the book? Where is he?"

Ruka didn't tear her eyes away from the page. "Talking to Akatsuki."

"What?! Akatsuki's here?" Aidou sweat-dropped. Kain was back! He only came back early when there was a problem! Was there a problem? What was he talking to Ichijou about?

Ruka roled her eyes. "If he's talking to Taku-chan, he is obviously here..."

"Will you stop calling him that, it's starting to really annoy me!"

Ruka didn't like his tone. "Taku-chan! Taku-chan! Taku-chan! Taku-chan! Taku-chan!"

"You know, someone with your IQ should have a low voice too."

"Keep talking, someday you'll say something intelligent... or not."

"You're so ugly, you'd make a train take a dirt road!"

Ruka smirked and touched his forehead, making him blush slightly. "Don't you have a terribly empty feeling... in your skull?"

"Well... you... you have more chins than Chinatown!"

Both Rima and Shiki shook their heads. "That was weak..."

"Very weak..."

Ruka turned her attention back to the book. "Really, I'd feel bad to insult you now. You'd have to think and I don't want you to sprain you brain."

"You know what?" Silence. "Shut up, I'm ending this conversation now. Shiki, did you see if Akatsuki was in a good mood?"

Shiki turned his emotionless eyes to Aidou. "He seemed somewhat worried. Why?"

"Well, a thought just crossed my mind..."

Ruka couldn't stop herself from adding something. "That must have been a long and lonely trip..."

Aidou ignored her. "Anyway, he wasn't supposed to come back just now, so something must have happened. What if he thinks I messed up while he was gone? Maybe he's angry that I didn't tell him Ruka was sick!"

Shiki was busy eating, so Rima asked for him. "Why didn't you?"

Aidou turned his eyes away, gazing at the wall. "I... I just didn't want him to worry... I knew he'd come back right away if..." Aidou remembered Ruka was there. Kain would never forgive him if he told her how his cousin felt about her. "...if there was something wrong with any of us." His gaze fell upon the floor as he repeated. "I just didn't want him to worry."

Silence spread around the room. Shiki and Rima looked at each other, while Ruka looked at Aidou thoughtfully. She seriously did have to reconsider her opinion of him. First he'd taken her to the medical room, stayed by her side until he was too exhausted, and then he'd worried about his cousin's feelings. And he always gave her something to do when she was bored. She smiled as that thought crossed her mind.

A barely audible whisper escaped Aidou's lips. "I'm so stupid..."

"Hanabusa, you did the right thing." Ruka surprised Aidou and herself by trying to cheer him up. "You were right not to tell him. And you shouldn't be worried about his reaction. I already told Akatsuki that you're the one who took me to the medical room, and he said that he had to thank you."

His blue eyes shone. "Really? You told him that?"

"Of course."

"Why are you blushing?" Rima and Shiki both asked Aidou the question at the same time.

"Am not!" Aidou stormed up the stairs, fuming.

_______________________________________

Kain sighed. Didn't Ichijou understand that by avoiding the subject he just fed his silly suspicions? He knew nothing could be going on between Ruka and Ichijou, as she lived for Kaname only. But he hadn't seen her for so long. Well, it hadn't been that long, but it sure felt like it. And while he was away, his brain entertained itself by conjuting up the most unbelievable stories.

Ichijou avoided Kain's gaze. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to make a big thing out of it, but ended up doing just that. The rose was a gift to commemorate her well-being."

Kain felt stupid. Very, very stupid. Why had he made such a big deal out of such a silly thing? Ichijou had been such a great help during his absence, and he was accusing him of being sneaky behind his back. "Dammit, I'm just being stupid."

"No, you're not." Ichijou stood up.

"Ichij..."

"Kain-kun, I should have taken into account how you feel about Ruka-chan."

Kain was taken aback by this. Ichijou had never discussed this particular topic with him since their first meeting, when they were still little children. The redhead actually thought that the blond had completely forgotten about it.

"I should know that by deliberately avoiding giving answers like these, especially after you've seen that, is just asking for trouble." Ichijou carefully chose a particular rose from his jar and gave it to Kain. "Here. Give this to Ruka-chan. Tell her you've missed her."

"Why ar..."

"Sorry, Aka-chan, but I have lots of work to do, so bye bye!" Ichijou grinned and closed the door. Listening to the red-haired boy's footsteps, the blond boy's happy grin faded away and his emerald eyes were covered by his fringe.

________________________________________________

Kain passed Aidou, who looked like he was extremely angry and nearly didn't notice him. "Hanabusa."

Aidou almost tripped up the stairs. "Akatsuki. Weren't you talking to Ichijou?"

"I think the conversation's finished. So, did you take care of Ruka while I was gone?"

Aidou pondered what he should say. 'Yeah, of course I took care of her. I also enraged Ruka by trying to suck on her neck, let her go on a date with Ichijou, took her to the medical room, something she already told you, but did you know that I picked her up as if she was my bride? Oh, and then I played with her hair while she slept. Freaky, I know. And now I'm completely incapable of feeding on girls. Why? I don't really know, but the only theory I can think of involves Ruka, which is absolutely ridiculous, hence my earlier resolution of never talking about this again. And I've been blushing way too much around her, besides enjoying her insults. There, that pretty much sums it up.' Aidou snapped out of his daydream and shook his head. He had to stop watching Scrubs.

"Hanabusa?"

"Yeah, of course I did. Easy peasy. Ooh, you brought me a rose!"

"No, it's for Ruka. Ichijou said I should give it to her."

Aidou looked at the rose. Funny, it looked just like the ones on Ruka's bedside table in the medical ro... His eyes widened. He'd heard Ichijou say Kaname had been the one sending them, but what if... No, roses all looked the same. "That's a very good idea. Good luck!" Aidou started going up the stairs again, but Kain grabbed his sleeve. He gave him a look that said 'I need support', at least that's how Aidou interpreted it. "Tell you what, I'll stay here and if I see you're doing something wrong, I'll step in, okay?"

Smiling, Kain continued going down the stairs. "Hey."

He was greeted by three distinct voices. "Hi."

"Ruka, can I talk to you? Alone?"

"Sure..." Ruka got up and walked to him. "What is it?"

"Here." He gave her the rose and scratched his neck, as he always did when he was nervous.

"Thank y... ouch!" Ruka pricked her finger on one of the thorns. She parted her mouth to lick the blood, but Kain beat her to it. Taking her hand, he enveloped her finger with his lips. Ruka blushed violently. "Akatsuki..."

Kain took her finger out of his mouth and gently placed a kiss on it. "I missed you."

She answered, in a daze. "I missed you too..."

* * *

Some people asked for Rukain, and who am I to deny them? I always try to incorporate your requests in the story, if I can :)

So, Kain is back, and Aidou watches too much Scrubs, bet you weren't expecting that lol^^

By the way, I've uploaded another VK fanfic (Unfaithful), give it a look if you have the time (yes, I'm shamelessly promoting it lol)

Anyway, PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW ^_^


	8. Silence is a scary sound

Chapter 8. Silence is a scary sound

**Disclaimer**: Seriously, it's been eight chapters… You know I don't own this manga/anime, I don't have the skills to.

* * *

After Kain and Ruka left, Shiki and Rima remained in the room alone. "Ichijou-san."

Rima stopped eating her pocky and looked down at Shiki. "Eh?"

"That was one of Ichijou-san's roses."

"How do you know?"

Shiki merely shrugged. He just knew. "But it's strange."

Rima frowned. "Strange?"

The crimson-haired boy nodded. "Ichijou-san is always very careful with the thorns."

"Maybe he left it on purpose."

Shiki looked up at Rima, whose lap his head was still on. "On purpose?"

It was Rima's turn to nod. "Maybe he wanted Ruka to prick her finger."

"You mean he planned this?"

"Who knows? But the thorn was very convenient."

"Why do you think he did it?"

"Who knows..."

____________________________

Ruka and Kain were siting on a bench, the former quite nervous.

"So, what did you do while I was away?"

Ruka snapped out of her trance, but her words were still slightly incoherent, due to the shock that Kain's action had caused her. "Well... nothing... I mean, there was school... I went to town with Taku-chan..."

Kain's ears picked up the last sentence. Taku-chan, now why was that name familiar? He could swear he'd heard it before. And that far away memory, long hidden in the confinements of his brain, sprung back to life.

Ruka kept talking. "I was sick, but you know about that..."

"I'm sorry."

The long-haired girl creased her delicate eyebrows, a hint of confusion in her eyes. "Why are you sorry?"

"For not being here when you needed me most." Kain was baring his soul to her, he really hoped she would understand how much effort it took to tell her such a seemingly simple thing.

"Did you impress them?" Ruka's melodic voice broke the nocturnal silence.

Kain had to think for a moment until he understood her question. Remembering their conversation the day he'd left, he smiled tenderly. Had he impressed the person he cared the most about? "You tell me."

"Eh?"

Locking his gaze with hers, Kain took her hand in his. They were silent for several moments. Finally, he sighed and smiled. "Never mind. Let's just look at the stars."

Ruka looked at the sky. The black blanket was littered with white dots. No, not littered. Ornamented with diamonds was a better expression. A cliché, but still very appropriate, description. Of course, their shine was nothing compared to the queen of the night, that celestial crown jewel, always so enigmatic to the eye and desirable to the touch... The Moon. The source of so much poetry, memorable lines, silly romantic nothings. But those nothings meant so much, especially when spoken by the right person...

And as her mind was drifting off, she noticed Kain had been looking at her all along. "You're not looking at the stars."

He smirked his little smirk. "I have better things to look at."

Ruka smiled and poked his forehead playfully. "Silly."

__________________________

Kanamewas reading his book, but something kept distracting him. No, not noise, but rather the lack of it. Funny, after years of reading while Ichijou chatted loudly, Kaname couldn't read if the room was silent. He looked at his childhood friend, sat a few feet away from him. Ichijou seemed to be in deep thought, his eyes never once leaving the blank wall.

"Something interesting on the wall?"

Ichijou simply smiled, not taking his eyes away from the wall.

"You know, your silence scares me, it's not normal."

The blond then answered, still looking at the wall. "I'm thinking."

Kaname pressed. "About?"

"Fairness."

Kaname's attention completely left the book. One-line answers coming from Ichijou were so rare. He looked around the office, and noticed something was missing. "Where's the thorny rose?"

This time the enigmatic green eyes moved away from the wall and beheld the pureblood. "Huh?"

Kaname's voice was calm and soft as usual, not exposing any of its owner's curiosity. "I remember you kept a single rose with thorns, where is it?"

The blond boy's eyes returned to the wall, while his reply had a regretful undertone. "Someone needed it more than I do."

The heir of the Kuran's frowned. "Someone needed it?"

"Well, I guess it's more appropriate to say that someone deserved it more than I ever will."

____________________

"Back already?" Aidou greeted Kain as he entered the room.

Kain was so full of happiness that he didn't notice the hidden resentment in his cousin's voice. "Yeah, Ruka was feeling sleepy."

"Oh, imagine that."

This time Kain heard some sarcasm in Aidou's remark. "Hanabusa, is something wrong?"

"Of course not, I mean what's wrong with you forgetting all about me on the stairs?" Aidou was furious. He'd offered to be there for Kain, but he wasn't ready for what he'd seen. When he saw Kain putting Ruka's finger in his mouth, the only thought in his mind was 'That should be me.' But it wasn't him, and he hated having thought of it even for one second. He knew how much Kain had always cared for Ruka, and how he himself had no right to stand between them. Not only did he not have the right, he didn't have a chance. Aidou was furious, but with himself.

"Oh, that." Kain grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, I completely forgot about you. But can you imagine how I felt when she said she missed me too?" Kain let himself fall on his bed, staring dreamily at the ceiling. For the first time, he had had a taste of what it felt like to have your feelings reciprocated. "It was amazing."

Aidou diverted his gaze. It must have been a glimmer of hope for him after all these years of enduring her devotion to Kaname. Like a glass of water in the desert. "What did you two talk about then?"

"Nothing. Sweet, sweet nothings... We mostly gazed at the stars. Well, she did, anyway."

"What did you look at then?" Kain merely looked at him, smirking. "Oh."

"You should have seen her, she looked so beautiful in the moonlight... It was as if she was an angel with silver hair. I really had to struggle not to wrap my hands around it, I tried so hard not to even brush her fringe away from her lovely face..."

Aidou felt the blood rush to his cheeks. He could remember the feeling of her tresses in his hands, they were so soft...

"Hanabusa, are you okay?"

"Yeah, why?"

Kain shrugged. "You're very quiet today, it's so unlike you that it's sort of scary..."

"I'm just tired."

"Really? Are you sure you don't want to talk about anything that might be worrying you?"

Aidou snapped at him. "What are you, the police? Geez, I wasn't expecting the Spanish Inquisition. I said I'm just tired, okay?" Aidou covered himself with the blankets and turned to face the wall. He was hoping the lavender smell would calm him down.

Kain simply stared at his cousin's back. What was wrong with Aidou? Was he really that upset that he had forgotten about him? "Hanabusa?"

Aidou didn't speak. He didn't dare to, it was too scary.

____________________

As he finished patrolling the area, he saw her staring at a particular window of the Moon Dorm. "Yuuki."

Yuuki turned around. "Oh, hi, Zero."

"Are you looking at Kuran again?"

She blushed. "N-no, don't be silly, I was just making sure everything's okay in the Moon Dorm. After all, I'm a Guardian!"

Zero rolled his eyes. He gently patted Yuuki's head. "Come on, it's bedtime."

She had to walk faster to catch up with him. "You know, I'm not a baby."

He smirked. "Could have fooled me. I mean, your daddy even got you some nappies after your little 'accident'."

"That never happened! You're the one who threw water at me!"

"Suuuure I did... just keep telling yourself that."

Yuuki punched him. "Baka! You're really annoying..."

Zero smiled. At least she wasn't thinking of Kaname anymore. "I guess I am... You should go to your dorm now."

Yuuki looked up. They were in front of the girls' Sun Dorm. She turned to say goodbye to Zero, but stopped. He was smiling at her, and his silver hair reflected the moonlight, each individual strand shining. She felt her cheeks warming up and her voice refused to come out of her mouth.

His smile faded away. "Is everything okay?"

"Eh? I mean, yeah, everything's fine! Good night!" Yuuki rushed up the steps, tripping once or twice, and closed the door behind her.

She put her hand over her chest. Her heart was beating wildly. Why? It only ever beat like that when she was next to Kaname. 'It shouldn't be beating this fast. I mean, it's Zero. Zero! Zero...' She shook her head. 'Pull yourself together, Yuuki! He's you friend and that's all he'll ever be!' Ruka's question appeared in her mind "_What about Kyriuu. What do you feel towards him?" _Yuuki touched her cheeks. They were burning! She shook her head again, hoping that it would all go away. 'I'm too tired, that's why I'm having these crazy thoughts. It will all be better tomorrow, after a good night of continuous sleeping.'

__________________________

"You should cheer up. I can't have you sad like that in the masquerade ball."

Ichijou's eyes lit up. "A masquerade ball? When?"

"Next week. The invitations for the Night Class are on my desk. The Chairman has the Day Class's ones."

Ichijou looked like a child now, and it was clear that he was trying really hard not to jump up and down on his chair. "Is there a theme?"

"No, people can wear whatever they want, as long as it is a costume." Kaname looked at Ichijou and smiled. He could see that his friend's mind was thinking of a million different possibilities for outfits and masks.

Ichijou turned to ask him a question, but not one expected by Kaname. "Are you getting Yuuki-chan a costume?"

Kaname shrugged and smiled as he answered. "If she wishes so."

Even though the Kuran heir's voice was calm and collected, Ichijou could hear the note of excitement in it. "When are the invitations being handed out?"

"How about tomorrow? And I imagine that you want to hand them out personally."

"Can I? Can I? Please please?"

Kaname laughed out loud, surprising Ichijou. "Sorry, sorry. Yes, of course you can." Kaname composed himself. Ichijou begging to hand out the invitations looked too much like a puppy begging for a treat, and he had laughed at the image of a little puppy Ichijou.

"It's always nice to see you in a good mood."

"You too. You don't look as depressed." Kaname got up and left, coming back shortly after. "Here are the invitations." Ichijou held them carefully, as if they'd break as soon as they touched the floor. "Don't forget anyone."

* * *

It's been a while, but here's chapter 8. I'm really really sorry for making you guys wait, and I know that my chapters are really short, but that's what allows me to usually update fast (and I'm not very good at writing long chappies... yet). I hope you've enjoyed it :)

I've been thinking and I'm curious about who you think Ruka will end up with, and/or who you want her to be with. So, if you don't mind, you could leave your opinion with your review?

PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW^^!


	9. Down goes another one

Chapter 9. Down goes another one

**Disclaimer**: No, I do not own VK, the awesomely awesome Matsuri Hino does.

* * *

Ruka was siting in the huge, ancient library, carefully running her eyes through the black letters printed on the old, worn out yellowish paper. She was trying to write her part of the report for class, but it was being harder than she thought it would. The information was just so scarce. The only thing she found that even just mentioned edibility was a note talking about sweets. She glared at the book. Why did _that_ have to be the topic?

"Hey, what are you doing?"

Ruka looked up to find Aidou siting opposite her. She pointed at a jar near one of the windows. "Trying to find information on those stupid things."

"Surely you've got something by now."

"Well, the European monarchs loved frosted petals with sugar. You can make jam from rose hips, but not the actual rose itself. There's always tea too."

Aidou arched an eyebrow. "That's it?"

Ruka sighed. "That's it."

The blond boy thought for a while, finally coming up with an apparent solution. "You know, the teacher only told us what the topic was, we can choose which and how many sub-topics we have. I'm sure Ichijou didn't know there'd be so little information, so you and I could both write about the uses in medicine."

Ruka looked up at him and could swear there was the hint of a blush in his face, but it disappeared immediately. Blinking, she replied. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah." Aidou stretched and put his hand under his chin, smirking. "You can do my work for me."

She scoffed. "Good luck with that." As she ran her finger down the contents page, she felt his presence nearer than before. Turning to her right, she gave him an inquisitive look.

The blue-eyed boy simply shrugged. "It's easier if I'm able to read the book too, don't you think?"

Mentally slapping her forehead, she nodded.

Looking at the page, Aidou pointed to a number. "Page 245 seems like a good start."

She frowned. "Really? It's about it's usage in Antiquity and the Middle Ages."

"So? They used all kind of crazy stuff back then."

Shrugging, she flipped through the pages until the one they wanted appeared. Reading it, she found that Aidou was right, there was quite a lot about crushed roses being used to heal amputated limbs. Lovely.

Aidou furrowed his brows. "This is gonna be hard."

Ruka looked up, pen in hand and ready to write down the information. "Why?"

"Well, most of it is intertwined with the symbolism bit. See here? It says some human so-called doctors used it to stop their patients from screaming during operations. And then it goes on to explain it's because the rose has been associated with silence since Ancient times, and that giving a shrieking spirit a rose would make it stop screaming."

Ruka sighed once again. She thought roses would have been an easy topic, but it was proving much more complicated than she had ever imagined.

"Interesting."

Ruka turned to the handsome vampire next to her. "What's interesting?"

"Read this part."

Staring at the text under Aidou's finger, the golden-brown haired girl read the passage. "The rose has always been associated with love, especially the deep red varieties, therefore they were often used in love spells." Alarm bells started ringing in her mind, but she kept reading. "One use involved knowing if a damsel, or, more rarely, a young man, was in love. To do this, one needed a glass of water and three rose petals. The girl would think of her beloved's face, and drop the petals, one at a time, in the glass. If the first two sank and the third one floated, then she would be truly in love."

Aidou cut her off. "So, wanna try it?"

She shot him a look that clearly said 'No freaking way'. "You're joking, right?"

"Come on, it'll be fun."

"I doubt it."

He smirked and said, in a defiant voice. "Afraid of what you might find out?"

She huffed and crossed her arms. "I fear nothing."

"So let's do it, Ruka."

She rolled her eyes. "Hanabusa, we really should be working right now on how to separate our topic from Taku-chan's one, not playing around."

She saw his smirk disapear. "He's not here, why do you keep calling him that stupid nickname?"

Ruka frowned, indignantly. "It's not stupid."

"Whatever, it's childish and by calling him that, you're just encouraging his weird behaviour. And we're not playing around, we're merely testing an old belief. It'll be good to have some observational work in our report, don't you think? We don't have to say we did it, just give them the results."

Ruka looked away, defeated. "Fine. But you're getting the equipment." Seeing Aidou leave for the kitchen, she added. "Bring a glass with some tablets, I'm hungry."

Grinning, Aidou left and came back almost immediately with two glasses of water, one of which was sparkling red. Setting them on the table, he walked over to the jar and picked a red rose. "There, we've got everything we need." He sat opposite her again.

Ruka confirmed it and drank a bit of the red mixture. Looking at Aidou, she asked. "Aren't you hungry?"

He shook his head negatively. Actually, if he was to be completely honest, he was starving. He still wasn't able to feed for some unknown reason, and somehow blood tablets were even more boring than before. Seeing her drink the bright crimson concoction just reminded him of his own hunger, not just because of the colour, but also because of the person drinking it. He closed his eyes shut. 'Hanabusa, what are you saying? Stop thinking like this!' He opened one eye and looked at her, finding out that she was staring back at him, a worried expression invading her usually emotionless façade.

"Hanabusa, is everything alright?"

He cleared his throat, making sure his voice wouldn't falter. "Yeah, I was just waiting for you to finish. Seriously, you're such a slow drinker."

The worried look faded away and she glared at him. "Well, excuse me for trying to savour this tasteless drink."

"Next time I'll add sugar then. So, shall we start?"

Ruka looked at the glass and the rose wearily. "I don't know what to do."

Aidou rolled his eyes. "Look, here's the rose." He picked up the rose and plucked three silky petals. "Here." Their fingers brushed lightly as he gave her the petals, and his hand lingered there far too long for his liking. "Okay, now all you have to do is think about someone."

"Who?"

"Anyone. Kaname-sama, Akasuki, me..." He averted his bright blue eyes from her face to the glass.

Ruka closed her eyes and visualized someone's face. She let each petal drop, one at a time, and observed them. The first petal sank. The second petal followed in its sibling's footsteps and sank as well. The third petal lingered in the middle of the glass, finally deciding to make its home near the surface.

Silence.

Aidou gazed at Ruka and found that she was shooting a deadly, poisonous glare at the offending glass. Her posture was tense, and he was sure she would attack the first thing that moved or simply crack the crystal cup. He himself was burning with curiosity, but now didn't look like the right time for questions. He carefully raised a hand and used her pen to fish the petals out of the glass, all the while stealing glances at her, seeing that her brown eyes were following his hand's every movement. Once the petals were out of the water, she broke the silence.

"Your turn."

He looked up at her, frowning. "What?"

Her eyes were still hard, but gradually softening. "If I had to do it, it's only fair you do it as well. We should have a boy's results too."

He nodded slowly. Plucking three more petals from the crimson rose, he closed his eyes. Hesitantly, he thought of a face. Dropping the petals, he reluctantly looked at them. One petal swiftly sank, as if made of lead. The second one twirled around in the surface for a while, but it decided to accompany the former. All eyes were on the third one. Just like Ruka's, it wavered between the bottom and the top. 'Sink, sink, sink, sink, sink, sink, sink! Sink, or I'll freeze your whole family!' Aidou's eyes dilated as the petal started sinking, just to come back up and float. 'I'm going to kill your family, petal.'

Silence.

Aidou and Ruka exchanged looks and he cleared his throat. "This is obviously complete nonsense."

She agreed. "Of course."

"I mean, I'm not in love." He hoped it didn't sound like he was trying to convince himself.

She nodded. "Indeed, we can't expect much from human superstition."

"Exactly, how is a freaking flower going to know what you feel or don't feel?"

Silence filled the room.

Aidou looked at her. "So... who did you think of?"

She blushed. "Does it matter?"

"No, I was just... curious..."

She looked at him. "Who did you think of?"

"No one in particular."

Silence.

"Ruka-chan, Aidou-kun, I finally found you!" A cheerful Ichijou skipped to their table.

Both Ruka and Aidou let out a relieved sigh and relaxed, not knowing when either had become so tense. "You were looking for us?"

Ichijou smiled. "Yes, Ruka-chan. There's going to be a masquerade ball and I have the lovely task of handing out the Night Class invitations, so here are yours." He gave each of them a golden envelope sealed with red wax and the Academy's crest. His green eyes quickly noticed the glass and the nearly bald rose, and his easily excited curiosity peaked. "What were you doing with this?" He saw them both blushing and grinned. "Ruka-chan, what have you two been doing?"

"We... We were just trying out a... an ancient use for roses. You know, as part of the report."

"Yeah." Aidou nodded, confirming it.

"Can I try?" Ichijou sat next to Aidou, beaming and sparkling as usual. "So, how do we do it?"

Ruka looked at Aidou, but he wouldn't speak. "Well, first you get three petals, you think of someone's face and drop each petal at a time in the glass. If the first two sink and the third one floats, you're in love with that person."

"Sounds fun." The boy with bright blond locks plucked three petals from the rose, closed his eyes, and dropped them in the glass. The first petal gently sank to the bottom. The second one danced around in the translucent liquid, eventually falling to the bottom as well. The third one was no exception, swiftly sinking like an anchor. Ichijou grinned. "Well, fancy that."

Aidou's eyes were as wide as possible. How did Ichijou manage to do that? "Who did you think of?"

"You."

Aidou sweatdropped. That explained it. "You're supposed to think of someone you might be in love with, not a person you blatantly know you don't love."

Ichijou turned his puppy dog eyes on him. "But Aidou-kun, I love you." He promptly grinned. "Just not in that way."

Aidou muttered under his breath. "Idiot."

Ichijou got up. "Well, gotta go, there are still loads more invitations to hand out."

"Taku-chan, I was wondering if it was okay for me and Hanabusa to both write about the medicinal properties of roses. There's not much about it's use in culinary."

Ichijou took a moment to look at Aidou and Ruka, and smiled. "Sure." He twirled and skipped to the exit, bidding them adieu.

Aidou stared at his envelope. "A masquerade ball, huh?"

"It appears so."

He chuckled. "Remember when we always had masquerade balls during Carnival when we were younger?"

She smiled, thinking back to those golden days. "My mother always got me embarrassingly over-the-top dresses."

"Yeah, but you looked cute." He quickly added. "Well, as cute as a spoiled brat can look."

She laughed dryly. "Oh, haha, very funny. You're one to talk. I remember a year when you wore a skirt."

Aidou blushed. "It was NOT a skirt, it was a Roman toga."

She rolled her eyes sarcastically. "Suuuuuuure it was. A _pink_ Roman toga."

He crossed his arms. "Real men wear pink." He looked at her sideways, and saw that she was grinning almost as much as Ichijou. No one could grin as much as the manga-loving vampire. Aidou smiled too, rather contented.

"I guess." Ruka stretched, her wavy hair billowing down her shoulders and waist, delineating her figure. Aidou could only swallow dryly as he failed to avert his eyes from her. Suddenly he felt very hungry. "What time is it?"

Aidou looked at his watch. "6 pm."

"I guess I could still sleep before we go to class. I've been in here for hours."

"Yeah, I think I'm going too. Do you mind if I keep the book?" She handed it to him. "Thanks."

They left the library, not bothering to clean up their table, and walked towards the bedrooms. "See you later." Ruka entered her room and closed the door.

Aidou stared at it for a while before walking up to his own room. Pausing, he looked at his right hand. He still had her pen. Sighing, he spun on his heels and knocked on her door. A muffled sound came from inside. Frowning, he wondered if the door was locked. It wasn't. Opening it, he stepped in and saw Ruka trying to get out of her shirt, but with some difficulty. "Ruka?"

Ruka stopped immediately and said something that sounded like "Hanabusa?", although it could be something else, since the shirt over her face didn't allow much sound to get through.

"I still have your pen, that's why I ..." He stopped, finally noticing a very important detail. Ruka was having some difficulty taking off her shirt, probably because it had gotten caught on one of her earrings. The shirt was covering her head and arms, however her torso was bare, and that included showing her bra. Aidou turned his back on her right away. 'Oh God! Akatsuki's gonna kill me!' "I'm so sorry, Ruka, I didn't mean to!"

Ruka replied in an annoyed but comprehensive sound. She then seemed to ask him something.

"What was that?" He still didn't dare look at her. She repeated, this time louder, and he could make out the words "Can you help me?". He slowly turned around. "You want me to help you?" He saw her head nod. Swallowing dryly, he closed the distance between them and grabbed the hem of her shirt. He was going to pull, but then remembered that it could be caught in an earring, and he didn't want to tear her ear apart. "Ruka, are you wearing earrings?"

She nodded.

"Did it get caught?"

She nodded again, less than enthusiastic.

"Okay, I'm going to try to unhook it." He slipped his hand between her shoulder and her neck, up her shirt and tried to find the earring, all the while trying to ignore her nearly naked torso very close to him. "Okay, wait, I just have to..."

CLICK.

Ruka pulled her shirt off, helped by Aidou, breathing the fresh air, and letting out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Hanabusa."

"You're welcome, here's you sh..."

"Hanabusa?! Ruka?!"

Aidou froze immediately. He didn't dare look at his cousin's face. One single word was on his mind. 'Shit.'

_______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________

Just like I promised babybell, the ninth chapter is here ^_^ Sorry for taking so long ^^'

RuKain fans, please don't kill me! Although we should all really be sorry for Aidou right now ;)

I think I should talk about the history of this story a bit. It started as a fan comic, but since my scanner didn't work at the time, I decided to just write it. Now that it does work, I've uploaded some of my old 'doujinshi' pages. If you'd like to see it and give me some feedback, please go here http://lunargift. deviantart. com/art/VK-You-can-t-choose-pg-1-112885493 (don't forget to take the spaces out between the words 'lunargift' 'deviantart' 'com') :)

I really hope you've enjoyed it!

PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW ^_^


	10. Memory lane

Chapter 10. Memory lane

**Disclaimer**: Matsuri Hino owns Vampire Knight and I love her for it :)

* * *

'Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.' He decided to throw in another one for good measure. 'Shit.' Now, usually he wouldn't swear, he was a gentleman. A gorgeous gentleman, if he could say so himself. With amazing hair. And eyes, oh, he could go on for hours talking about his wonderful eyes. Anyway, he was sidetracking. Okay, he usually wouldn't swear. However, the current circumstances decreed that he did swear. You see, he was about to be murdered. How did he know? Well, for one, he was sure he could smell smoke. And where there's smoke, there's a fire. Second, he was in the company of a nearly naked girl that his cousin had a thing for. Third, said cousin, who was much taller and muscular than him, had just walked in on them. Ironically, Aidou was frozen to the spot.

"Akatsuki!" Ruka put the shirt in front of her, turning red. "This isn't what it looks like."

"I figured out that much." Kain knew that this obviously had to be a misunderstanding, and that, judging by what he was seeing, Ruka probably wanted them both out of there, so he took a step towards his idiotic cousin.

"Don't kill me!" Aidou immediately hid behind Ruka, as if the shorter girl could possibly shield him against his cousin. Even if she could, she probably wouldn't. Too much work.

Kain scratched his neck, slightly annoyed. "Hanabusa, come on, let's go."

Aidou shook his head vehemently. "No, you're going to hurt me, I know it!"

"I'm not going to do anything."

"Liar! Ruka, don't let him near me."

Sighing, the long-haired girl stepped aside. "He's all yours."

"What?"

Kain grabbed him by one of his ears and started dragging him away. "Let's go."

Struggling, Aidou glared at Ruka. "You traitor! I took your shirt off!" Aidou felt a sharp pain in his ear. "Ouch! I didn't mean it like that! I meant I put my hand up her shirt and... Ouch! Akatsuki, stop it! You're getting it all wrong!"

Hearing the sound of Ruka's door closing, Kain's grip on his cousin's ear relaxed significantly, until he finally let go and started walking away.

Aidou immediately forgot all about his abused ear and followed him."Akatsuki?"

Kain kept on walking. "Mh?"

The blond boy hesitated. "Ar-Aren't you mad?"

Kain looked at Aidou, frowning slightly. "Mad at what?"

Aidou averted his eyes. "Well, you just saw me in Ruka's room while she didn't have her shirt on. I mean, I know what happened and even I admit that I would be suspicious if I was you and..."

"Hanabusa, do you want me to be mad?"

"No..."

"Do you want me to punish you?"

Aidou could feel a bead of sweat running down his forehead. "Erm, not really."

Kain then said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Then just forget about it."

Aidou furrowed his brows. He knew Kain too well to fall for this. "How dumb do you think I am?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?"

Ignoring Kain's reply, he continued. "You are upset. You practically screamed our names when you opened that door. Just tell me, you shouldn't bottle it up inside. You know it was a misunderstanding, but if you don't talk about this, you'll hate me, I just know it."

Kain spun on his heels, facing Aidou. "Fine, let's talk about it. What were you doing in there? Why did you have her clothing in you hand? Tell me how on earth were you able to get yourself into that kind of situation!" The blue-eyed noble flinched as his cousin's voice got slightly higher and angrier. Noticing this, Kain turned around, sighing and massaging his temples. "Look, let's just forget about this, okay? It really isn't that important, it's nothing."

"Look, her shirt got caught on one of her earrings and I just happened to come in and help her." He quickly added. "I didn't look. It was all a coincidence."

Kain took a moment to take it all in. A simple, innocent misunderstanding, just as he had imagined. However... "Why do you sound disappointed?"

Aidou looked at him, wide-eyed. "Disappointed?... That's crazy, I'm not disappointed, why would I? It's such a ridiculous notion that I won't even consider that for one more second. I mean, seriously, me? Disappointed? At what? You're crazy, Akatsuki, I mean why ..."

Kain stopped his little rant. "Hanabusa, I was joking."

Aidou sweat-dropped. "Oh. Of course, I knew that." He looked away. Why would he be disappointed indeed.

____________________________________________________

A coat landed on the floor.

Blink.

Three shirts fell on top of the coat.

Blink.

A dress.

Blink. Blink.

Shiki, sitting on Ichijou's bed, looked up at the boy with blond locks, who was currently busy decorating his bedroom floor with garments which he deemed unworthy. He wondered what it was that those clothes didn't have or couldn't do, to make Ichijou throw them aside.

"No, this isn't good." Ichijou dug deeper in his closet. Suddenly, his green eyes lit up and he grinned, pulling something from an old, dusty box. His smile subsided, giving way to a surprised expression. "Oh dear, this must be decades old." Another handfull of expensive outfits promptly littered the floor, heaps of satin and silk tainted with every colour ever seen.

"..." The crimson-haired boy stared, cocking his head to the side a little. There was no real curiosity plaguing him, however there was a spark of interest behind his lilac-tinted blue eyes.

"What is he looking for?" Rima gave Shiki some pocky.

Shiki merely shrugged, his mouth too busy to talk, and his brain too lazy to join up words in order to form an answer. Rima didn't seem too fazed about the lack of a reply. She didn't expect Shiki to waste words when he didn't really know what was going on. In her opinion, making guesses was a pointless game, played by people who wished to feel they were in control over something, even if it had to be the future. Interesting, but utterly pointless.

Ichijou's golden head peeked out of a pile of colourful, feathered outfits. "What are Shiki-kun and Rima-chan wearing to the masquerade?"

Both models looked at each other sideways and cocked their heads, just like twins, and shrugged.

"Haven't thought about it." Shiki stole some more pocky from Rima, unconcerned with Ichijou's horrified expression.

"It's not that important." Rima took a bite as well.

Munching and not caring that their mouths were full, both said in unison. "It's going to be boring anyway."

Ichijou looked like he had just seen a ghost and had had a heart attack at the same time whilst being chased by crazed jellyfishes. "N-not important? Boring? It's a masquerade ball!" His eyes shone and he twirled around the mountains of exquisite fabrics, almost looking like a certain Chairman. "A glorious occasion to celebrate our peaceful coexistence with the humans! And most important of all..." He wrapped himself up in a dazzling cerulean coat. "...we get to wear costumes!"

Silence. Wait, no, not complete silence. There were munching sounds. Ichijou sighed and went back to the task at hand. Believing he could find what he wanted underneath a hill of hats, his hands came across something strangely familiar. His eyes widened. It couldn't be. Pulling it with his trademark clumsiness that still managed to be endearingly graceful, he looked at the object in his hands. A nostalgic smile spread across his face. He hadn't seen it in centuries, and seeing it now brought back so many memories.

____

_*Flashback*_

_Ah, Venice, the Queen of the Adriatic, such a beautiful city. It was the home of a myriad of painters, sculptors and romantic artists, always so magnificent and mysteriously peaceful. _

"_Wow, Kaname, look at that!" Ichijou had had his face glued to the window during the whole trip, much to his friend's amusement. "It's so pretty, I can't believe we're actually here!"_

"_This is your first time in Venice?"_

_The young blond nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, I've wanted to come here for ages but my grandfather wouldn't allow it." His voice turned quieter. "He thought it would distract me too much."_

_Kaname observed the smiling boy next to him. A smile had graced Ichijou's face ever since the first day he'd met him. Always a smile. If he was sad, the smile would be smaller, but it never disappeared. It was a mystery to the pureblood how someone could be so happy when they had such a serious, solemn grandfather. The dark-haired boy smiled as well. "Well, now you're here."_

"_Thanks to you, you're the one who convinced my grandfather to let me come."_

"_Well, I thought we needed a break, and I know Venice will be particularly pleasing to you around this time of the year."_

"_Eh? Why's that?" _

_Kaname shrugged, a playful look in his eyes. "Who knows?"_

"_Come on, tell me."_

_Kaname looked out the window, smirking. "Tell you what? I don't know what you're talking about."_

_Ichijou sulked. "It's not nice to bring up a topic like that if you're not going to tell me all of it." Seeing that Kaname wouldn't answer, he decided to change his tactic. Smiling mischievously, he spoke. "Ka-chan, you can tell Taku-chan."_

_Kaname's vein nearly popped. "Did you just call me 'Ka-chan'?"_

_Ichijou shrugged, mimicking his friend's earlier behaviour. "Who knows?"_

"_I'll tell the charioteer__ to take us back."_

_The green-eyed boy crossed his arms. "No you won't, you already told everyone to meet us here, Ka-chan."_

_The Kuran boy turned to the charioteer. "You can take us back."_

"_What?" He nearly fell off his part of the sofa. "No! Kaname, what are you doing?"_

"_Oh, so now I'm Kaname? Not Ka-chan?"_

_He sighed, defeated. "Fine, I won't call you Ka-chan ever again. Please can we stay here?"_

"_I think you've learned your lesson." He turned to the driver again. "Just keep driving please.."_

"_So..."_

"_So?"_

_Ichijou threw his hands in the air, frustrated. "You still haven't told me why I'd like this place right now."_

_Sigh. "Look outside, can't you see it?"_

_Ichiou's grandson turned around, trying to notice whatever it was that Kaname was talking about. He tried really hard, even squinting, but nothing came of it. He turned around, smiling his clumsy smile. "I can't see anything."_

_Sigh. Kaname massaged his head. Anyone else would have gotten it by now. "Ichijou, what month is it?"_

"_February."_

"_And we are in...?"_

"_Erm... Venice?"_

"_And what happens in Venice during February that you've been dying to see?"_

_The blankness in Ichjiou's eyes gave way to immeasurable excitement and happiness. "No way!" He clapped his hands. "We're here to see the Carnival? Ka-ch... erm.. Kaname, this is amazing!" _

_Kaname merely smiled. "Happy birthday."_

_*End of flashback*_

_____

Ichijou gazed nostalgically at the silver Venetian mask in his hands. Kaname had bought it for him as a surprise present, even though it was not his birthday. During that trip, they'd met up with Ruka, Aidou and Kain. Apparently the former two had dragged the latter when news spread of Kaname's whereabouts. The memory of their expensive clothes and amazing costumes was still fresh in his memory, and a big grin appeared on his face when remembering the dress Kain had bought for Ruka. Ichijou turned around, still holding the old mask as if it would break any minute now. "Shiki-kun, Rima-chan, are you going to match your outfits?"

Both models looked up, confused. Shiki asked. "Why would we do that?"

"A couple should wear matching clothes in an occasion like this one."

"But we're not dating."

Ichijou winked. "Not yet."

_________________________________

"Yuuki, Kyriuu-kun! It's near now, the day of the grand ball that will mark the peace between humans and vampires! Aren't you excited?" Chairman Cross was shining, proud tears streaming down his eyes. "They said it couldn't be done, that humans and vampires would never live in harmony. Well, I proved them wrong! Mwahahahaha!"

Zero looked at him as if he was mad. "But you didn't prove them wrong, we're not living in harmony with those freaks, we even have to prot..."

"Haha, I proved them all wrong!"

"Aren't you listening to me? The fact that we have to watch out for them every night means you faile..."

"All wrong!"

The silver-haired guardian knew that the loony with the ponytail was already light years away from earth, so he did the only thing that would bring him back. He smashed his desk.

"Ah! No, my dear, precious desk! Kyriuu-kun, you're so violent!" His eyes were fountains now. "Yuuki, hug daddy so he can feel better!"

Yuuki dodged the man who tried to hug her by stepping aside. "Erm, I think we should get going now, sorry, Chairman."

"It's 'daddy'." He got up and composed himself, suddenly turning serious. "Plus, Yuuki can't go anywhere before we discuss a matter of extreme importance."

"Extreme importance?" Her tone was worried, what could this be?

"I'll take my leave then."

Chairman Cross held his hand up. "No, Kyriuu-kun, you should stay. It involves you as well."

Closing the door, Zero went back to his place by Yuuki's side. He didn't notice how the girl next to him suddenly became tense. "I'm listening."

"Well, I was thinking..." He pulled out two boxes from under the now broken desk. "You two should wear matching outfits to the masquerade ball!"

Zero clenched his fists, his veins nearly popping. "You..."

"Wait, Kyriuu-kun, before you kill me just look at them, you might like it." He opened Yuuki's box and took out a light pink, frilly dress and a pink _colombina _mask. "This is for Yuuki."

Zero rolled his eyes. Of course it was for Yuuki. "Really? Because I so want it for myself."

"Kyriuu-kun, don't be jealous, you get this one." He quickly took out a very elegant dark pink tuxedo. "I didn't think Kyriuu-kun would like a costume so I chose a simpler suit with this colour because it matches Yuuki's dress perfectly and is still very manly... Kyriuu-kun, what are you doing with that closet? Yuuki, help daddy!"

_________________________________

Ichijou knocked on Kaname's door. "Come in."

"Kaname, I just passed by to tell you that all the invites have been handed out... Oh, hey, Chairman Cross."

Chairman Cross smiled. "Hi, Ichijou-kun. I see you ran into some trouble as well."

Kaname looked at both of them. Ichijou's face was full of plasters, the same as the Chairman's. "Did something happen today?"

Ichijou grinned sheepishly. "I might have slightly upset Rima-chan and Shiki-kun."

"And I annoyed Kyriuu-kun a little bit."

"What exactly did you two say to be treated like that?"

The answer was given at the same time by both. "Matching clothes."

* * *

Wow, this chapter took me quite a bit, but it's here, albeit with a bit too much swearing for my taste :p but it had to be there. I'm still not sure about the chapter's tittle, you see, I've been naming them after songs by one of my favourite bands, but I couldn't find one that fitted this one perfectly.

Anyway, I hope it was worth the wait :)

PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW ^_^!


	11. Transylvania

Chapter 11. Transylvania

**Disclaimer**: Not mine. (It's 2 am over here, I'm too sleepy to say anything better ;))

* * *

"Knock, knock, Ruka-chan!" A cheerful, bright blond-haired head covered in pink Hello Kitty plasters peeked out of the door and was promptly greeted with a flying dress. "Ugh!"

Hearing the sound of someone falling down, Ruka turned around and, realising what had happened, rushed to his side. "Taku-chan? I'm so sorry, does it hurt?"

Massaging his head, Ichijou sat up and, smiling sheepishly, lied as best as he could. "Don't worry, I'm fine." Actually, his head was throbbing like mad and he was pretty sure he had a concussion. What was that dress made of, lead?

"Are you sure? That dress is encrusted with jewels and bits of silver. Did any of it hit you?"

Ichijou shook his head. "Nope, I'm totally fine." He got up quickly to show her how well he was. Too quickly. He got a head-rush and lost his balance, wobbling a bit and finally falling forwards. However, instead of kissing the cold, hard floor, he landed on something semi-soft and piles of fabric caught him. He let out another "Ugh!" as the air escaped his lungs. Trying to push himself up, he noticed how hard but soft the fabric was. What kind of pillows were these? He squeezed them. Maybe he would ask Ruka where she'd bought them and get some for him too. He wondered if they came in different colours. Looking down, he could have died right there and then of embarrassment. He'd fallen on top of Ruka. That's why the 'pillows' were so weird and had hard and...soft...? His green eyes drifted from her shocked face to his right hand. Oh dear. He gulped. His right hand was currently resting comfortably on top of Ruka's left breast. He looked at her face again and the words "Danger! Run away! Now!" flashed inside his head. Realizing the meaning of those words, he quickly scrambled away from her, sweating nervously. "I didn't mean to, I'm really sorry, Ruka-chan!"

A wide-eyed Ruka sat up quickly and answered in a meek, trembling voice, her face redder than Ichijou's now very scarlet cheeks. "I-It's okay." No, it wasn't okay, it was very, very awkward. "... it was an accident, after all." She turned her back on him and kept rummaging through her huge closet and asked, all the while not facing him. "So... erm... why are you here?"

It took him a while to stop mentally lecturing his hands about what places were good or bad and where they could take a nap, and answer her question. "What? Oh, right!" He automatically changed his mood from shocked to cheerful, remembering the reason of his visit. "Do you know what you're wearing to the masquerade tonight?" He had given up on Shiki and Rima. Ruka and Aidou were more in tune with him when it came to things like clothes and parties.

She turned to him with a bemused expression. "Look around you. Does it look like I've decided what to wear?"

The blond studied the room as she had told him to. Her and Rima's room looked just like his and Shiki's had looked like before. Every corner was full of dresses, skirts, shirts, every imaginable clothing that a woman can wear and more. He grinned, noticing that their searching habits were the same. "Do you want me to help?"

She shot him a dubious look. "You? Help me?" He wanted to help her pick a dress? Ruka had always had her doubts about him, what with his flamboyancy and effeminate behaviour.

He feigned a hurt expression as a response to her lack of faith in him. "What's so bad about it? Don't you trust my fashion taste?"

Ruka pondered for a bit. It wasn't that she didn't think he had good taste, he always dressed nicely. But she was afraid he might take this opportunity to make her dress as some manga heroine, as he had tried to do to Rima and Shiki a few years before. "It's not that, I just wasn't expecting you to offer, that's all. I asked Rima, but she sneaked out as soon as she could, so I guess you can help me, then."

"Right! Taku-chan to the rescue!" He turned to one of the piles that were on the other side of the bedroom. "I'll look there, then, is that okay?"

"Yes." Ruka was far too busy to turn around and, truth be told, she really didn't want to face him again, in case her face was still displaying a ruby shade.

Ichijou started digging right away, looking for a dress that would make Ruka be the centre of attentions. He absolutely loved clothes, they served so many purposes in life. But above all, he loved dressing other people. Shiki and Rima were his favourite guinea pigs. They were models, so they were used to being dressed up, however they never seemed happy with his choices... Well, he was sure Ruka would be easier to work with...or harder, since she would care more than the aloof pair.

His fingers suddenly brushed against a particularly smooth piece of fabric in the middle of the pile. It felt like it had some woven patterns as well, and the shape was rather unusual. Imagining how pretty it must be, he eagerly pulled it out and gazed at it. Seeing what it was, he understood why he'd never touched anything like it. It was obvious, it's because it was a... Oh. Oh...!

"Do you want me to help you?"

Ruka's voice startled him and nearly gave him a heart attack. He turned around, hiding the piece of clothing behind his back. "N-No! Everything's okay!"

The long-haired girl frowned at his suddenly high-pitched voice and nervous expression. Ichijou had always been the worst liar of them all. "Taku-chan, are you hiding something from me?

"Of course not, Ruka-chan, what would I be hiding?" He stuffed the item in his back pocket, where his blazer could cover it. After that, he held up both hands. "See? Nothing's here." Seeing that she still wasn't convinced, he decided to change the subject. "Hey, I had an idea! Why don't you wear the dress that Kain-kun bought for you in Venice?"

"Venice? Oh yeah…" Her brown eyes sparkled slightly as she remembered and a soft giggle escaped her lips.

"Ruka-chan, why are you laughing?"

She cocked her head to the side and looked into outer space, a nostalgic feeling enveloping her. "Nothing important. I was just remembering how Hanabusa and I forced Akatsuki to come along with us. That's one of the few times we ever agreed on anything."

"You, Kain and Aidou have known each other for a long time, haven't you?"

"Yeah, ever since we were little kids. I think those two were the first people my age I ever met. Our parents are friends, so we used to play at each other's mansions at least once a week, usually nearly everyday."

Ichijou grinned, remembering his first encounter with a young Kain. He wondered how Aidou looked like. "Did they change a lot?"

She placed her index finger on her chin, thinking. "Well, Akatsuki used to be a bit shy back then, but he was the first person besides my immediate family to call me Ruka-chan, and that really surprised me." She frowned, and her voice's volume fell a bit with the next sentence. "He only did it once though, when we were playing in the gardens." Her cheerful tone came back. "But Hanabusa's still exactly the same, although after meeting Kaname-sama, he stopped thinking he's the most perfect being in the whole universe."

He grinned. "Really? So Aidou-kun hasn't changed a bit?"

She sighed, pretending to be annoyed. "Well, just a tiny little bit. He now thinks he's the second most perfect being in the whole universe." He was also a bit more mature, but that was to be expected, after all they were older now.

"Ruka-chan, can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"You never really wore the dress, so do you think you could wear it tonight? I would love to see what it looks like on you. I'm sure it's beautiful." Actually, he himself had helped Kain to pick the dress, and he'd been somewhat disappointed when Ruka chose other costumes to wear instead.

"I guess I could. After all, it's still brand new. Now, where did I put it..." She turned around and walked over to her closet again, looking for the present that had been given to her so long ago.

"You have it here? I thought it would be at your house." He scratched his head. Why would she have brought it to the Academy?

"My maids were sure that something like a masquerade would happen, so they stuffed a suitcase full of dresses and costumes, just in case. They went through all my clothes, so I'm sure the dress is here. I just hope it still fits me." Finding a big, old suitcase, she pulled it out and opened it and started looking at the clothes she'd forgotten to unpack all those years ago.

He waved his hand up and down, dismissing her fears. "What are you saying, Ruka-chan, of course it will still fit you. It's quite large, after all." After saying these words, he was met with a cold glare.

"Are you saying I'm fat?"

"What? No, of course not! I meant that we knew you'd grow into a fine young woman." He saw her blushing slightly and glancing down. Frowning, he looked at his outstretched hands, and saw that they were in line with her chest. He quickly withdrew them. "That's not what I meant either! No, we didn't think you'd grow _this_ way! Not that we thought you'd be flat-chested forever!" Her eyes twitched and he nearly hyperventilated. "I'm not saying you were flat-chested back then, you had very nice...you know...not that I ever looked, but if I did, I'm sure that they would have looked lovely... Not that I imagine them. I mean..."

"I think you should stop now, before you insult me any more." His face fell on his hands, telling himself off. She giggled. "Taku-chan, I'm joking."

He looked up, relieved, and felt his heart start beating normally again. "You're an evil woman, you know that? Nearly giving me a heart attack... So, have you found it?" He sat next to her, looking at the mess of fabrics. Spotting a crimson fold, he pointed, proud of his choice. "There it is."

She blinked. How did he know which one it was? "Is it?"

His shoulders slumped. So much effort, and she hadn't even given it a moment's thought. "Ruka-chan, have you never even seen it?"

Well, no, she hadn't. She'd received many presents, and she hadn't seen all of them. Besides, she was too busy gazing at the bracelet Kaname had presented her with. Not for the first time, she slapped herself mentally for being blinded by the pureblood. She still admired him greatly and he still held the highest of places in her heart, but at least now she was trying to notice other things besides him. Stopping the blood from rushing to her cheeks, the angelic-looking girl lied. "I have, it's just that it was a long time ago."

The blond, being much more perceptive than everyone gave him credit for, saw through her right away, but decided to let it go. "Well then, let's see it once again. I'm sure it's still as gorgeous as the first time I laid eyes upon it."

Pulling the dress out of the suitcase, Ruka's brown orbs widened. The gown was surprisingly beautiful, emanating that Venetian carnivalesque atmosphere. It was tinted a deep crimson, the long, wide sleeves made up of layer upon layer of smooth silk. Sown patterns of dark-crimson velour ornamented it, and delicate black lace rimmed the square neckline and the hem of the skirt's lower layer. Looking at the suitcase again, she spotted a a pair of shiny black wrist lenght gloves and a crimson fan, both items rimmed with black lace, and a black _colombina _mask with crimson feathers attached to it on the left side, and on closer inspection, one could make out the forms of ebony-coloured, thin bas-reliefs in the shapes of elaborate spirals and intricate labyrinths. "It's beautiful." It was more than that. Truly a breathtaking outfit, worthy of an empress, and she regretted the fact that she had not given it the attention it was due.

"Of course it is. Kain-kun wanted the best for you, and that's what he got." Ichijou grinned as he remembered how they argued over what to buy. Kain wanted a more sober, demure and simpler outfit, while Ichijou had his heart set on a dramatic, over-the-top and brightly colourful gown. Finally, as soon as they saw this dress, they both knew they'd found the perfect costume for her. "Well, I'm sure you want to be left alone to try it on, so I'll meet you later. Don't forget to save me a dance."

"Okay, and thank you for suggesting this costume, I would have never have thought of it."

Before leaving, Ichijou looked back and asked. "Ruka-chan, I hope I'm not imposing too much, but could I ask you to let your hair down? I think it suits you more."

_____________________

"Akatsuki, are you up yet? Don't forget that today's the big ball." Aidou's excited face hovered above his cousin's sleepy visage. "Come on, if you don't get up now, you're going to be looking for your outfit, and we're going to be late. As usual."

Kain simply covered his face with his duvet, effectively blocking out his noisy cousin. Did Aidou think he was the same as him? Kain was the type of person who just threw something on, he didn't spend hours fussing over every little detail. Whenever they were late to any social occasion, it was because a certain blond spent too much time brushing every single lock of his hair into place, or making sure his perfect skin was free of spots and blemishes. Plus, the ball was being held in the Moon Dorm this year, so all they had to do was go downstairs.

Suddenly, he was forced to face the sun's bright light due to the duvets being ripped away from his hands. "Hanabusa, leave me alone and let me sleep in peace. _Please_." He emphasized the last word, hoping that his blue-eyed roommate would get the message. Honestly, it was impossible to be any clearer. "Unlike you, I don't need to start getting ready six hours before the actual party. You're worst than a woman."

"Wow, you're barely awake, and already you're being misogynistic."

The red-haired vampire grunted, shielding his amber eyes from the offending sun's rays with his right arm, and answered in a bored voice. "I'm not being misogynistic." He wondered if Aidou even knew what the word meant, or if he was just trying to sound smart.

"Okay, you're being sexist then. You know, it's not just girls who care if they look good or not, there are also guys who actually take care of their appearance... But I don't expect you to know much about that."

Kain arched an eyebrow, half annoyed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You heard me. Now..." Aidou shoved two pieces of fabric in front of his cousin's face. "...which colour is best? Pale blue or baby blue?"

Kain's sleepy eyes studied both outfits for a very long moment, taking into account every shadow and reflection of the light. Shrugging, he finally answered. "They're exactly the same."

"What? How can you even say that? Can't you see the different hues and saturation? They're so obviously completely different!" As Aidou started ranting about the difference in colours, Kain closed his eyes and went back to sleep, glad to be back in the silent, serene realm of dreams. "Akatsuki, don't fall asleep again, I need your help!"

Sigh. "Why do you care so much, anyway? Whatever you put on, the Day Class girls will all fall at your feet. Actually, I'm sure they'll be much happier if you don't wear any clothes." His eyes snapped open and he glanced at his cousin, smirking. "Unless... Hanabusa, is there a girl in particular that you want to impress?"

A red-faced Aidou quickly turned around. "Pffft, don't be stupid, of course not. I just want to look my best, is that such a crime? Just go to sleep and don't bother me anymore with your silly suggestions." He picked up his outfit and went to the bathroom, locking the door.

Blinking, Kain went back to sleep. He could hear the hot water fill the bathtub, which meant that Aidou would stay in that bathroom for at least four hours, and he was determined to sleep until his cousin got out of there and started having his little panic attacks for not being ready.

Trembling, the blue-eyed vampire looked in the steam-covered mirror. As he saw the hot vapour turn into cool, clear droplets, he caught sight of himself on the reflective surface. His eyes were as blue as the sky, his hair as golden as the sun, and his skin as white as the clouds. Perfect. The second most perfect being in the whole universe. Not the number one, for that position was reserved solely to the pureblooded prince. But Aidou had always had a rival for the rank of number two. Ruka Souen. And now, he was suddenly, reluctantly even, beginning to see why she was a worthy rival, and acknowledging her own perfection, that his cousin had accepted long ago. And now he was worried about her opinion of him. How pathetic. Never before had he given her a moment's thought, so why now? Of course he'd always known that she was extraordinarily beautiful, it would be foolish not to face the facts. But he had never really cared. Since when did he enjoy her company, since when didn't he like her spending time with other guys, like Ichijou? And, most importantly: _when_ did he start caring? Was it the day he'd seen the smile that she showed only to Kain? When she had thanked him for the first time? Or maybe, when he'd been able to gaze at her sleeping face and touch her hair.

"_There's no __reason to be jealous."_ The mirror shattered as his fist slammed against it. The dull pain did its job and took his thoughts away from that dangerous path, away from _her_. It didn't last long, though, and as the blood dried and his cuts closed, the crystal liquid beads on the glass solidified, frozen in time.

"Hanabusa, are you okay? I heard something break."

"Everything's fine." Aqua-marine eyes glared at a packet of blood tablets that he still refused to digest. "Everything's fine..."

_____________________

As she applied the finishing touches to her lips, Ruka admired herself in her full-lenght mirror. She once again lectured herself for overlooking such a fantastic gift, and decided to not turn down every single present just because it didn't come from Kaname. 'I'll have to thank Akatsuki for this.' Looking around her, she noticed that Rima was gone already, and that it would be wise to make her way to the party now. Closing the bedroom's door behind her, Ruka saw someone near the stairs, waiting.

Ichijou was dressed in baggy white trousers and a white long-sleeved shirt with three black pompoms at the front. A thin ruffled collar encircled his neck, gently falling on his shoulders. On his head, he had a black beret, and his face was painted ivory-white, with black vertical lines over his eyes and a single, lonely tear beneath the corner of his left eye. His hands were covered with white gloves as well. Ruka immediately recognised him as Pierrot.

The blond was speechless as he stared at her, head to toe. He saw that she'd taken his advice, as her lusciously long tresses were curling over her shoulders and back. He managed to choke out some words. "Ruka-chan, you're..." Divine, stunning, splendid, ravishing, pulchritudinous. "...very pretty."

She smiled. "Thank you. You yourself are looking very nice." She noticed that he didn't move and no sentences left his lips anymore. "Taku-chan, are you okay?"

Snapping out of his trance, he blinked. "Hn? Oh, yes, yes, don't worry." He turned to one of the many flower vases spread around the stairs due to today being a special day. His fingers lightly brushed against the silky petals of a deep-red rose, but he ignored it. Being a fan of _ikebana_, Ichijou had studied the symbolism of flowers as well, and a rose was not the kind of flower he was allowed to offer her. True, he had tried to present her with one when she had recovered from her illness, but he didn't have any other flowers available at the time. He finally set his green eyes on the perfect plant. Removing it gently, he placed it above her left ear, making sure it was held in place by the mask's strap. He offered her his right arm. "Shall we?"

She intertwined her arm with his and they began their descent. Inhaling the sweet fragrance, she asked. "Taku-chan, what kind of flower is this?"

"A gardenia."

"It smells lovely."

"Yes, gardenias are prized bec....woah!" Being the distracted person he was, Ichijou tripped over his own shoes. Trying to regain his balance, he clung onto Ruka, hoping that the girl in high-heels would somehow stop him from falling. And being as lucky as he was, he caught her off-guard and dragged her down with him.

He gulped as he saw the floor getting nearer and nearer. The only thing he could do now was try and shield the girl in his arms. It had only been about a week since she'd gotten out of the medical room, and he didn't want to be responsible for her re-entry there, so he tightened his grip around her. He'd been lucky that no-one had noticed his little action, even luckier that Kain hadn't noticed anything, but if she had to be medically examined, he could be found out, and he really didn't want to deal with the drama that would ensue. "Ugh!" The air once again escaped his lungs as his back made contact with the cold marble, and even though Ruka wasn't that heavy, he still had to break her fall.

Opening his eyes, all he saw was brown. Had the blow to the head made him blind? Blinking, he realised with relief that Ruka's hair had formed a sort of silky curtain around them. The girl in question tried to get up. Her mask had slipped, and Ichijou could see her face perfectly, her beautiful eyes accentuated with eyeliner looking straight at him. Even though not much light could pass through her tresses, he saw the distinct start of a blush creeping up on her usually pale cheeks. "Ruk..."

"Ahem!"

Ichijou's hands let go of Ruka's waist as if she was made of fire. Maybe it wasn't just his imagination, since a certain red-haired vampire was looking down at them, accompanied by his cousin who had just cleared his throat in order to alert the two people sprawled on the floor of their presence. "Aidou-kun, Kain-kun, how are you?"

Aidou, impulsive as always, reached down and yanked Ruka from Ichijou, leading her to the ballroom in hurried footsteps. Following them with his gaze, Kain sighed, shaking his head. He should tell Aidou not to be so rude. Helping Ichijou up, he asked. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, but I'm afraid Ruka-chan might have hurt herself. It was quite a fall." He inched closer to Kain, who was wearing a full mask, his hair and height being the only recognisable characteristics. "Is everything okay with Aidou-kun? He seemed a bit edgy."

The manipulator of fire shook his head slowly. "I don't know, he's been acting strange ever since this afternoon, I have no idea of what's up with him. He even broke the bathroom's mirror." The taller vampire turned to his friend. "Ichijou, did something happen with Hanabusa while I wasn't here? Maybe it might explain his strange behaviour."

The green-eyed Pierrot shrugged. "No, I've told you everything." Except the part with Aidou asking Ruka to drink her blood. Ichijou guessed that Kain wouldn't be happy at all with that. Plus, it didn't seem important enough to cause this change in Aidou. "Maybe it's something that happened recently, after you've come back?"

Kain frowned. He couldn't think of anything that had happened lately.

"Do you think we should follow them?"

The amber-eyed aristocrat shook his head. "Maybe, just to be sure Ruka's fine. I've noticed that she's wearing the costume we bought in Venice." The corners of his lips turned upwards in a smile that had waited centuries to appear.

"Yes, she is. See? I told you she loved it. And Kain-kun, you should call her Ruka-chan at least once, don't you think? I think that would make her happy."

________________________

"Hanabusa, where are we going?" Ruka looked around her, seeing the crowds of girls fawning over the Night Class boys. In the middle of the huge room, a storm of colours twirled at the sound of music. From the corner of her eyes, she could see Zero, in his school uniform but with a black mask, dancing with Yuuki, under the watchful gaze of Kaname.

Aidou looked back, and soon regretted doing so. "Put your mask back on, I don't want to be swamped by drooling guys." Actually, he just didn't want to see her perfect face.

"It's a bit hard when I only have one hand free." As soon as she spoke these words, he let go of her hand, albeit reluctantly, and spun on his heels, facing her. This allowed her to see his costume. He was dressed like a musketeer. But not any plain musketeer, after all he was Hanabusa Aidou. The feathers in his hat were ice-blue, and his baby-blue, pin-striped waistcoat gave way to wide sleeves that gathered at the cuff, decorated with pearls, as were his white gloves. It was such an elaborate outfit that it was more suited to a prince. The different but complementary shades of blue brought out the cyan in his eyes.

"Come on, put it on then." Aidou crossed his arms, impatient. As she adjusted the mask, he noticed the white gardenia. "That flower doesn't go with the rest of your outfit." He reached out to remove it, but she quickly stepped back.

"Leave it, I like it."

He averted his gaze, snorting. "Whatever." Looking at her once again, he couldn't mask the concern in his voice. "Are you okay?"

Brown orbs blinked, confused. "Of course, why wouldn't I?"

"Well, you were...on top...of Ichijou, so I thought something..." The blond was visibly uncomfortable with the question that he wanted to ask, not daring to look at her. If he had, he would've seen her ivory skin turn a deep red due to his wording.

She answered, fiddling with her hair. "He tripped and we fell, but I'm perfectly fine.."

"Ruka-san, will you give me the pleasure of this dance?"

Both Ruka and Aidou looked behind her, where the Day Class President was standing, in a polite bow. Aidou's right eye twitched and he waited for Ruka to say no. However, her reply was taking longer than usual. She seemed to actually be considering it! "I..."

"Dance with me." His lips trembled as he interrupted her. What had he just asked?

"What?"

"What?" Both Ruka and the human boy stared at him. "Aidou-senpai, erm, I asked her first..."

Aidou shot him a deadly look. "You. Scram. Now." He turned to Ruka. "Dance with me. Please." Was he having a breakdown? He couldn't ask her this! Kain was the one who should be dancing with her. 'But there's nothing wrong with a little dance, is there?' Surely not. Kain could ask her afterwards.

Ruka considered his request. She had always said that she would only dance with Kaname. But he had never asked her to dance, and she had recently made the decision to stop smothering him, to notice other things. Dancing with someone instead of waiting for him seemed like a reasonable thing to do. She placed her hand on top of Aidou's. "Okay."

He placed his right hand on her waist, while her left one rested on his shoulder. Jealous looks and curious whispers immediately filled the ballroom as the gorgeous couple started to waltz. "Look, Ruka-san and Idol-senpai are dancing together."

"Wow, those two never danced together before."

"But they look really good, don't they?"

"Well, it's not possible for them to look bad."

He lowered his lips to her ear and whispered. "People are talking about us."

Ruka looked up at him. "Of course they are, it's not something they see everyday."

He smiled. "It reminds me of that day in town, when you and Ichijou spent the day together. People thought we were a couple and you got so mad."

"No I didn't."

A pleasant laughter escaped his throat, and he didn't feel as apprehensive as before. "Yes you did, don't lie. I've known you for longer than half the people here have lived. Anyway, that day, I was actually going to apologise to you."

Her face snapped up. "Apologise?"

"Yes, to apologise. I had some time to think it over, and even though I still think you over-reacted, my behaviour was shameless and unacceptable for a gentleman such as myself. I shouldn't have asked you to give me your blood, I know that it's a very important thing, and I'm sorry." Drinking blood from a cut was one thing, but purposefully asking or giving it, was considered an extremely intimate gesture of affection when performed by two equally-ranked vampires.

"Apology accepted. You know, Hanabusa, you've matured lately."

Somehow, her acknowledgement made him feel accomplished. "Have I? Is it a good thing?"

Before she could answer, the music stopped and the couples bowed to each other. An energetic Day Class girl clung onto Aidou's arm, interrupting his conversation. "Aidou-senpai, please dance with me now."

"No, me! I've been waiting for a long time!"

Soon, there was an entire queue of fangirls, all waiting to dance with the blond. Looking around, Aidou saw that he'd lost Ruka in the crowd of attention-seekers. Sometimes, he really hated being so loved.

___________________

Ruka walked over to the balcony, ignoring the invitations to dance. She'd danced with someone already, so she guessed it wa okay to just rest for a bit. The balcony was empty, with the exception of a white silhouette. Ichijou was thinking about Ruka's earlier words. They had all grown up together, under their parents' careful watch. Could it be that the Souen family was hoping for a marriage with one of the other families? Did Ruka know about this?

"Taku-chan, you're not dancing with your fans?"

The white-faced boy smiled. "I did, for a while, but I just wanted to get some fresh air now. Was Aidou-kun alright?"

"Yes, he just wanted to apologise, I guess."

"Ah..." He pondered for a while. Suddenly, he asked. "Ruka-chan, do you think I'm a fine young man?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Well..."

________

_*Flashback*_

_Kaname entered the room, looking very unamused. This wasn't the time to be playing silly games like hide and seek. Spotting the blond underneath the bed, he snorted. "Ichijou, it's time to go back."_

_T__he blond's locks shook to each side, accompanied by a loud cry from the boy who was tightly hugging his pillow. "Bwaaaahhhh!!! Nooo waaayyyy!!! I want to stay here!!!"  
_

_The dark-haired vampire fought the urge to roll his eyes. "Come on, stop behaving like a child. Your grandfather is waiting for you at home." His voice softened. "And you can always come here to see the Carnival again. Why the crying?"_

_  
__Tearful green eyes looked up at him. "You don't understand, grandfather allowed me to come here only because of you. He wanted me to keep an eye on you and make sure that nothing bad happened to you. He will never let me go anywhere on my own. I never have this kind of freedom..." His words were interrupted by louder sobs._

_  
__"..." The silence on Kaname's part just made Ichijou's crying get louder and louder. The pureblood sighed. He knew Aidou was the one who had taught Ichijou to cry at the drop of a hat. He'd punish the blue-eyed aristocrat later, but now he should deal with his friend. "If that's the case, then don't worry. I will bring you here again, and your grandfather will have to allow you to come, since you'll be with me. Sounds good?"_

_The tears finally stopped. Drying his emerald eyes, Ichijou looked up, with high hopes. "Really?"_

"_Really. But only on one condition: you have to stop acting like a baby. And stop hanging around with Aidou so much, that boy's a bad influence on you."_

_Ichijou nodded energetically, a determined expression on his face. "Yes, I will do all of that! And then you'll bring me here again?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Really? You must promise."_

_Sigh. Not for the first time, Kaname regretted the fact that Ichijou knew him too well to let him off without having to make a promise. "I promise."_

"_No, you must do it formally."_

"_Fine.__" The heir of the Kurans was actually relieved that the blond had asked for a formal promise. A few months earlier, Ichijou had read in a manga that true friends spat on their hands before a handshake, and Kaname had to wear gloves everyday, just in case. "I, Kaname Kuran, promise to bring you, Takuma Ichijou, back to Venice in the future, when you've grown into a fine young man."_

"_Yay! I love you, Ka-chan!"_

"_..."_

_*end of flashback*_

____

"Every year I ask him to go back, but he never took me there again. Maybe I'm still not a fine young man in Kaname's eyes."

She cocked her head to the side. "That's not it. Taku-chan, I'm sure Kaname-sama just hasn't got the time. He's a very busy man."

"Ruka-chan, you're too nice."

Suddenly, an idea struck her. "Why don't we go there during the holidays?"

"There?"

"To Venice. Instead of always going to each other's mansions, next time we could go to Italy. Rima and Shiki haven't been there yet, either."

He clapped his hands, excited. "That sounds great!" As his arms moved, his sleeves slipped a bit and she noticed that his right wrist was bandaged.

"Did you cut yourself?"

"Huh?" He followed her gaze with his, and quickly covered the exposed material. "Yeah, just a silly accident, don't worry." He grinned.

She noticed how the grin seemed displaced, and wondered why he'd chosen that particular outfit. "Pierrot is supposed to be sad, I don't know if his frown suits you, you're a cheerful person."

Ichijou looked up to the sky, where the moon hung. "Yes, he is always sad. Do you know why, Ruka-chan?"

Of course she knew why. When she was younger, her favourite story was the tale of lozenge-clad Harlequin, who, despite being poor, had won beautiful Colombina's heart with his wit and resourcefulness. Pierrot was never mentioned in the story, and Ruka thought his outfit was too bland compared to Harlequin's multicoloured attire. However, as she grew up, the whitefaced clown's black tear became a mystery to her, and she decided to find out the reason behind it. She learned that the poor fool was a romantic dreamer, used only for comic relief, his feelings never taken into consideration by the other characters of the play. "Because Colombina chooses Harlequin instead of him."

"True. His love for Colombina is never reciprocated, for she sees only Harlequin and has no place in her heart for moonstruck Pierrot. But I think his tears aren't just tears of sadness, he's too honest and naïve to mourn such a thing. I believe they are of happiness too." He locked his gaze with hers and smiled. "The little clown is happy as long as his beloved is happy as well."

* * *

Special thanks to babybell for helping with the dialogue between Ichijou and Kaname in Venice :)

Oh dear, this chapter took forever! I'm sorry, it's just that after Rome, my ideas all merged together and formed a mess in my head :'( I hope you like it though, and please review and tell me what you think ^_^


	12. Corrupted

Chapter 12. Corrupted

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Vampire Knight. If I did, Sara would have never put her hands on poor Ichijou.

* * *

'_The little clown is happy as long as his beloved is happy as well.' _Ruka smiled gently at those words. Would she ever find her own little clown? And then she wondered how was it possible that Colombina didn't see how much Pierrot loved her? If Ruka had an admirer like that, she'd surely notice it... right?

He squeezed her hand and smiled, stealing her away from her wandering thoughts and delaying the discovery that she would have made just by thinking a little bit more. "Ruka-chan, you promised me a dance."

So she had. Aidou had made her forget about it. "You're right. Shall we dance now?" She turned and started walking towards the ballroom, but he remained where he was, holding her hand and preventing her from going any further. She looked at him, silently asking him the question.

He simply grinned. "Here."

She blinked, puzzled. "Here?"

The blond nodded, placed his free hand on her waist and whispered to her ear. "Lets dance here. It's too crowded inside." It was more of a gentle command than an innocent request, but he still managed to sound courteous. Kaname was like that. She mentally shook her head. She had decided not to think about the pureblood, and she would stick to her decision.

Ichijou's eyes gazed at the dancers inside for a few seconds and his green emeralds met Aidou's blue sapphires for a fraction of a second. That second was enough for him to know that he wasn't Aidou's favourite person right now.

"Are you okay?"

He looked back at the girl in his arms. "Eh?"

"You seem distracted. Is everything okay?"

"Yes, sorry, Ruka-chan."

Their feet moved, following the melody's delicate notes. It was a sad, melancholic tune, written by a broken-hearted composer, but it gave them peace and the feeling of being in a dream, far away from daily worries. Ruka gently laid her head on Ichijou's chest and closed her eyes, listening to the weeping piano. Ichijou simply slowed down their steps, enjoying the violin's angelic sound. Somehow, somewhere along the line, they both stopped and quietly listened to the mournful music. She could identify with it, and so could he, in a way.

"Ichijou."

Ruka's eyes snapped open as soon as she heard Kaname's silky voice. Ichijou didn't look at the pureblood, still paying attention to the music. "Yes, Kaname?"

"I need you to go and get something from upstairs."

Ichijou merely nodded, letting their Dorm President go back to the pretty brunette in the pink dress. The blond let go of the girl in his arms and bowed. "Thank you for the dance, Ruka-chan."

For some reason, Ruka was reluctant to let him go and grabbed his sleeve, in the same way a little girl grabs her special blanket. "Is it going to take long?"

He blinked and turned back. "Excuse me?"

She repeated. "What you have to do for Kaname-sama. Is it going to take long?"

He shook his head. "No, I just have to go to Kaname's room and get a present for Yuuki-chan. I'll be back in a second. Meanwhile, why don't you dance with Kain-kun? I'm sure he'd apreciate that very much."

He turned around and walked away. She found herself nearly feeling somewhat resentful towards Kaname for making the Pierrot leave her alone in the balcony.

__________

Aidou downed his seventh glass of red wine that night. Reaching out for an eighth one, he was thwarted by his cousin, who took the bottle away from him. "Don't you think you've had enough?"

The blond snatched the bottle and filled his glass. "No."

"Yes, you have." Kain took the bottle from his hands again and read the label. "This is Port, do you know the alcohol content it has? We can't have you falling all over the place."

Aidou murmured, busy filling the rest of his half-full glass with _aguardente_. "Mind your own business."

Kain looked at him, worried. It wasn't like him to drink, let alone this much, especially around human girls. Something must have happened. "Hanabusa, you've been acting strangely."

The blond asked, in between sips, but no real curiosity accompanied those words. "How so?"

Kain's eyebrow twitched, but Aidou couldn't see it, as the red-haired vampire's face was covered by the black mask. It was more than obvious that the blond wasn't behaving like usual. "You're drinking and ignoring your fans."

Aidou stopped the liquid from going down his throat and lowered the glass from his lips. He smirked a slightly inebriated smile. "You're right. I'm a playboy. I should be picking some girl up, shouldn't I?"

The taller aristocrat ran his fingers through his messy hair. "That's not what I said."

The smile was still playing on the blue-eyed boy's lips, but his aqua-marine eyes hardened. "Well, it's what you meant."

"No, it's n..."

"Yes, it is. Don't even deny it, I've known you for too long, you can't lie to me."

Kain was really worried now. This guy in front of him didn't sound like his cousin at all. "What's wrong with you?"

The smile grew wider. "What isn't wrong with me?" He turned around and walked away, immediately falling on some girl and proceeding to chat her up whilst she steadied him.

Kain sighed once again. He wished his cousin was easier to read. Sometimes Aidou was as transparent as a small child and other times he was like an obscure figure in a dark cloak at night. For a few moments, the redhead toyed with the idea that the blond was bipolar, but those thoughts were immediately replaced by others as he noticed that Ruka was standing on the balcony alone. Should he ask her to dance? Last time she'd refused, but had danced with him anyway when it became clear that Kaname wouldn't dance with her.

Deciding that Aidou was old enough to take care of himself and that he could try his luck, he walked over to the balcony, stopping along the way to ask the maestro for something. "Ruka?"

She turned around and immediately recognized him. "Oh, Akatsuki."

He scratched his neck and diverted his amber eyes from her. "I was wondering if..."

"Would you like to dance?"

If his face wasn't covered by his black mask, she would have seen his look of complete shock and surprise. "...What?" Had he heard right?

"Dancing. Would you like to dance with me?"

It wasn't a mistake. _She_ was asking _him_ to dance. Thanking every god in existence whose name he could remember, he nodded. "Yeah, sure."

He took her by the hand and led her to the ballroom. As soon as they set foot inside, the orchestra changed songs and she recognized it immediately. "This song..."

"It's your favourite, isn't it?"

"Yeah... But orchestras rarely play it during these parties."

Kain replied and discreetly winked at the maestro. "I guess you got lucky."

___________

Ichijou entered Kaname's personal quarters. The room was dark, but he could see perfectly well thanks to his vampire vision. Not for the first time, he was amazed by the strange objects that his friend had. A lot of them were old and dusty, even already obsolete in ancient times.

Out of the corner of his green eyes, he spotted a perfectly wrapped box with a red silk ribbon. Yuuki's present. Ichijou smiled, thinking of how soft Kaname when this human girl was involved. Ichijou had always known that she meant a lot to the Kuran heir, since he would usually accompany Kaname when he visited Yuuki. Of course, he stayed in the car, as his friend wouldn't allow anyone who could be dangerous around the girl.

'Ouch.' Looking at his hand, Ichijou saw a tiny cut on the back of it. Where had he cut himself? Looking around the box, he concluded that it must have been on some splinter from the old wooden chair. 'I should tell Kaname to throw his trash away before reprimanding Aidou because of his collection.'

Seeing his new cut heal immediately, the blond glanced down at his bandaged wrist and his face turned serious and so very different from his usually happy expression. That cut was probably healed too, he knew that the deep wound would sadly be gone by now, forever erasing the proof that it had happened. But those bandages were like a badge that assured him that it had been real, that it wasn't something that his wistful mind had made up on its own to torment him, and that he had actually done it.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he picked up the box and got out of there as quickly as possible. Kaname's room always had an eerie aura to it. Arriving at the ballroom, he spotted their President and skipped there, handing him the box with a big grin on his face. "Here you go." Noticing that someone was missing, he looked around. "Hey, where's Yuuki-chan?"

"Kyriuu-kun borrowed her for a moment."

The blond's smile grew slyly. "I think someone's jealous."

"Jealousy is irrational."

"Yeah, but you're never really that rational when it comes to Yuuki-chan, are you?"

The brown-haired vampire smiled. "Careful with your words. You haven't fallen for my Yuuki, have you?

Ichijou laughed. "Of course not, only a suicidal man would wish a girl that belongs to you. My heart isn't as brave as Kyriuu-kun's. I can't interfere in your love story."

"You see my situation as a love story? I wish I had that romantic view of the world that you possess. I'm sure that seeing the world as a fairytale is a blessing."

Ichijou's tone of voice lowered a bit. A fairytale? "No, I hold the world but as the world, Kaname; a stage where every man must play a part, and mine is a sad one. I'm the idiot in the play."

"And you regard the part of the idiot as worst than that of the tragic hero?"

"Of course. You see, the tragic hero, ill-fated as he may be, has at least a few moments of blissful happiness before tragedy falls upon him, and is allowed to act as he pleases. On the other hand, the idiot must smile at all times and never gets what he truly wants. He's never even given the opportunity to fight for it." His trademark grin came back and he waved. "Hi, Yuuki-chan."

The returning girl bowed. "How are you, Ichijou-sempai?"

"Aww, Yuuki-chan is so caring, no wonder Kaname likes her so much." This remark made Cross's adoptive daughter blush and smile shyly. Kaname, on the other hand, shot him a look that promised revenge for making her feel uncomfortable. "I guess I better be going now. Have a nice time."

He turned around, but Kaname's voice stopped him. "Ichijou."

"Yes?"

"...We make our own opportunities in life."

"I know." 'But sometimes we shouldn't.'

___________

Kain was feeling very happy. Ruka seemed to be enjoying herself and they had been dancing for at least three songs now. It was a good change from last time, when she had left him after only one song. Of course, he'd been receiving glares from most human boys and even quite a few vampires there, but he didn't care.

She herself had been the target of deadly glances, but didn't mind them. Actually, she found that it was rather amusing to smirk arrogantly at those girls. Maybe she should stick her tongue out too.

Before she could decide whether to really do it or if it was too unlady-like, Shiki and Rima joined them. Ichijou had won in the end and forced them to wear matching gold and red kimonos with embroidered flowers. Not that they were complaining, but they wouldn't thank him either.

A sleepy Shiki revealed to Kain. "Aidou's creating trouble."

"What?"

"Rima and I saw him hitting on some girls."

He closed his amber eyes and shook his head disapprovingly. "What's new about that?"

Rima answered this time. "It looked like he wanted to bite them."

"What?" A string of curses passed Kain's mind as he realized that he would have to go and put a stop to whatever it was that Aidou was doing. He didn't want to go, but he had to. "Ruka, I have to go."

She smiled up at him, understanding. "That's okay." Seeing him walk away, she called him. "Akatsuki."

"Yeah?"

"Don't be too hard on him."

"I'll try." He smiled back, before going to go look for the troublemaker that he was unfortunate enough to call his cousin.

The model boy noticed something on Ruka's hair. Strange, it didn't match the rest of her outfit. "Ruka, that flower... who gave it to you?"

She blinked at him. "This one? Taku-chan did. Why?"

"Nothing." Shiki furrowed his eyebrows. The Dorm was filled with different flowers today, so why would Ichijou choose a white gardenia?

Rima took a good look at Ruka. After having been roommates for so long, she knew her better than most other people there and commented. "You look tired. You should go and get some sleep."

Ruka shrugged and dismissed the models' worried voice. "I'm just a little bit sleepy, it's nothing important. Plus, what if Akatsuki comes back and I'm not here?"

Rima cocked her head to the side. "He'll understand. He always does."

"We'll tell him where you are if he asks. Rima, let's go. " Shiki grabbed Rima's hand and dragged her away.

"Shiki, what's wrong?"

"That flower was a gardenia."

The redhead frowned. Was that important? "So?"

"Ichijou-san told me about the language of flowers. Each flower has a particular meaning."

"What's the gardenia's meaning then?"

"Purity, joy, and... secret love."

"You mean..."

He shrugged. "I don't know, and it's none of my business. I just hope Ichijou-san knows what he's doing..."

__________

Kain finally found his cousin. Aidou was clinging onto a rather gorgeous Day Class girl, no doubt to stop himself from falling down due to the alcohol in his system, and the redhead could make out the words 'blood type'. He promptly pulled the blond away from her. "I'm sorry Miss, but could you leave us alone? I have to have a talk with Hanabusa."

The blushing girl nodded and hurriedly walked away. A slurring Aidou turned to him. "What the hell, Akatsuki?"

"I'm the one who should be saying that. Hanabusa, you nearly bit that girl. What on earth were you thinking?"

The blue-eyed boy clenched his fists. "Why don't you go and tell Ichijou off as well?"

Kain arched an eyebrow. "Why would I? He doesn't get drunk and try to bite people."

Was Kain really this blind? "He's been spending a lot of time with Ruka."

"What are you saying?"

"I just don't know if you should trust him with her."

The red-haired vampire laughed. "Ichijou is as likely to bite Ruka as you are. Are you saying I shouldn't trust you with Ruka?" Kain chuckled lightly at this notion.

'That's exactly what I'm saying...' "I give up. One day, you'll regret being so trusting. " The frustrated blue musketeer turned around and walked upstairs, tripping once or twice along the way.

"Hanabusa, where are you going?" Seeing that Aidou wouldn't answer, Kain sighed. Well, whatever he was going to do, it couldn't be as bad as nearly attacking human girls, could it? Still, should he follow him?

__________

Taking the white gardenia out of her long hair and untying the mask, Ruka rubbed her eyes. Rima was right. She hadn't slept that day due to looking for an outfit and now she wanted nothing but to get into her bed. She heard someone knock on the door, and guessed that it was Rima. "Come in, the door's open." Turning around, instead of Rima, she saw him. He was wobbling a bit and trying to steady himself with a hand on the wall. She walked over to him and asked, worried. "Are you okay?"

Without any warning, he pinned her against the wall and gripped her shoulders, as if trying to support himself. He was trembling so much that it looked like he would fall at any moment. She absently wondered if he was drunk. He lifted his face from the crook of her neck and looked at her, giving her a chance to see his eyes.

Shocked, she saw that his eyes were glazed red. Could it be... bloodlust? No, that wasn't possible, it was a preposterous idea. His lips were so close to hers that she could feel the hot air coming from them as he spoke. "Ruka... I can't...control..." He glanced at her guiltily and his eyes' normal colour was completely overtaken by bright crimson and he bared his perfect white fangs.

Ruka couldn't move, her body was overcome with shock and surprise. Something wasn't right, he would never do this to her. Horrified, she saw him lower his face again and felt his wet tongue on her neck, finally jolting her into action. She tried to push him away. "N-no! What's wrong with you?"

He merely pushed her even more against the wall, effectively stopping her from attacking him. Running his teeth along her neck, he smirked as he felt her shiver and gasp. He lightly pricked her skin with his right canine tooth, and felt her nails dig into him and her hands tightly grip his arms, even pulling him towards her, as a tiny drop of red liquid fell on his tongue.

The flavour of her blood lasted only for a mere second before it was replaced by his own. He was abruptly pulled away from her and punched so violently that he hit the wall and fell to the floor. His aggressor was glaring daggers at him, while Ruka had slipped to the floor as well, her right hand covering the right side of her neck, a tiny trickle of blood already drying.

* * *

**A/N: **Damn it Ichijou, distracting Ruka just as she's about to realize that she does have an admirer like Colombina's (Kain) ;). Haha, I got Aidou drunk and falling on people XD

Sorry for taking so long, but I've had exams. They're finished now, though, so I have loads more time to write! :D Also sorry for this chapter being shorter than the last one, but I had to end it at that exact point ;) You might be glad to know that I've already started writing chapter 13, so if everything goes well, it will be uploaded this week :)

Reviews are very much appreciated. ^_^


	13. Smile

Chapter 13. Smile

**Disclaimer:**VK is not mine.

* * *

_*Flashback*_

_The little platinum-blond boy looked at the girl with short brown hair next to him. "Ruka-chan, you like Kaname, don't you?"_

_She looked __up at him with her big rosy-brown eyes and smiled, blushing. "Yes, I do. Kaname-sama is the most perfect person in the whole universe. He's sweet, smart, pretty and definitely not a pervert."_

_The green-eyed boy laughed at the last part. __"Not a pervert?"_

"_Yeah, I don't like perverts."_

"_Don't worry, there are no perverts h__ere. And if anyone tries to do anything to you, I'll protect you!"_

_*end of flashback*_

"_I'll protect you!" _Those words repeated themselves in her mind over and over again, and she kept remembering them, trying to believe them. 'He'll protect me. He'll protect me. Everything will be alright.' Desperately wishing she was right, Ruka opened her eyes and looked at the scene in front of her.

He wished he hadn't drank as much, just so he could use his full abilities to beat the other vampire, currently bleeding on the floor, even more senseless. He quickly grabbed him by the collar, forcefully helped him up, and threw him against the wall. "You bastard! What the fuck were you doing to her?!"

"Hanabusa, stop it!" Her cries were accompanied by her arms around him, trying to stop him.

His blue eyes widened. "Stop...? Ruka, he just... He... What he did to you is disgusting! He knows that you only want Kan..." He stopped himself from saying it. "He knows what it means to you! And still he did this!"

"I know, but..." Her grip on him tightened as she tried to speak. "...Taku-chan wouldn't do this. Something must be wrong."

Aidou was about to reply as soon as he heard the sound of someone getting up. Ichijou slowly opened his hazy eyes. His brain registered that this wasn't his room or the ballroom, and the left side of his face was burning. Blinking, his vision became clearer and he finally recognised his surroundings and saw his own blood soaking his clothes and staining the floor. What was he doing here? And why was he bleeding so much? Looking up, his gaze met two faces, both showing very different emotions. A very distressed Ruka was holding back a very furious Aidou. "Aidou-kun? Ruka-chan? What happened?"

Aidou stared at him, outraged. Was he trying to trick them? "What do you mean 'what happened'? You bit her, that's what happened!"

The bleeding boy frowned. "That's impossible, I'd never do something like..." Ichijou's eyes widened as he noticed a foreign taste tickling his taste buds and his eyes focused on a small stream of blood running down Ruka's slender neck. Oh, no, he hadn't! He couldn't have! Hesitantly, he forced himself to ask. "Ruka-chan, did... did I really...?"

She didn't even have to answer, just her nervous blush was enough to confirm his fears. "Y-yeah..."

"But...I don't remember..."

Aidou asked in a low, composed tone, switching from his usual childish voice to a more mature and serious one. "You don't remember?..."

Ruka noticed this darker tone. It was almost aloof, as if he was talking automatically, and this wasn't a good sign. "Hanabus..."

"You don't remember?!" Freeing himself from her grip, he grabbed Ichijou, who offered no resistance, by the collar and pinned him against the wall again. "You don't remember?! Is that all you can say, after what you did to her?!"

Ruka grabbed his wrists, but to no avail. Aidou was using all of his strength, and Ichijou wasn't even fighting back. "Hanabusa, stop it! He can't breathe!"

"Good! He doesn't deserve to breathe anyway!" Ichijou managed to utter something, making Aidou's grip loosen up, but not entirely. "What?"

Gazing at Ruka, he repeated. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to... I don't know what happened, but I'm sorry..."

Her breath caught in her throat as she met his emerald eyes. They were so filled with guilt, remorse and confusion that she was the one feeling sorry for him. His expression just confirmed what she thought: that he hadn't been himself when he'd bitten her. Ichijou would never do that to her if he was in a normal state, something must have happened to him. But what if it happened again? No, she shouldn't think like that. Looking at him, she smiled weakly and placed a hand on Aidou's shoulder. "It's okay. Hanabusa, let him go."

"But..." He tried to protest, but a determined glance from her made him stop. "Fine."

Rubbing his throat, Ichijou forced a smile. "I better go talk to Kaname about this. Ruka-chan, I'm very sorry that this whole thing happened. And Aidou-kun...thank you for stopping me, I really appreciate it. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if..." He looked up at her and then back down again. "...just... thank you."

Aidou narrowed his eyes. "I didn't do it for you."

"I know, but I'm still thankful."

As the door closed with a soft sound and Pierrot left the room, the blue musketeer turned to the Venetian beauty. "How do you feel?"

"I feel fine, you don't have to worry."

"Ruka, I've known you my whole life, I can see when you're not well. And right now you're afraid."

"I'm not afraid."

"Yes, you are. You're shaking all over. Come on, come here." He hugged her, hoping that the lavender scent would calm her down, and ran his fingers though her hair in a comforting way. Eyeing the red line on her neck, he sighed. "Let me clean that for you." As soon as his tongue touched her neck, she jerked away. Guessing she was just scared because of what had happened minutes before, he put his hands on her shoulders and smiled reassuringly. "Ruka, I'm just trying to help. You trust me, right?"

His smile was so genuine that she couldn't help her own smile appearing. "Yes, I do." She closed her eyes as he cleaned the blood from her neck. It tingled, but she tried not to move. It felt weird to have Aidou, of all people, licking her blood, and she could feel her heart pounding against her ribcage, although that could be from the shock of Ichijou's earlier action.

The door opened and a cloaked figure took his mask off. "Hanabusa, why are you licking Ruka?"

Rolling his eyes, the blond snorted. "Geez, Akatsuki, you make it sound so dirty..."

Walking over to them, Kain grabbed Aidou by his ear and turned to Ruka. "Sorry for whatever he's done. He's drunk, you see."

Aidou pouted. "Eh? Akatsuki, you're being unfair, I didn't do anything bad!"

"Really? Then how do you explain that?" The redhead pointed at Ruka's neck. "I'll teach you a lesson for that later."

"It wasn't me! Ruka, tell him!"

"Akatsuki, it's true, he didn't do it."

"Then who did? Ichijou?" Kain chuckled at the idea, but the immediate silence and exchange of looks after his suggestion drained the amusement out of him. "He didn't."

Ruka decided to defend the platinum-blond. "Don't think badly of him, he wasn't himself when he did it!" She fidgeted and looked down. "And he didn't drink practically anything... Plus, he feels really bad and even went to talk to Kaname-sama about it..."

Kain took a moment to process the information. This really was unexpected, he never thought Ichiou's grandson would do that. But Ruka did say he hadn't been himself, and even though Kain didn't really understand how that was possible, he believed it.

As Kain was thinking, Ruka picked up a familiar scent. Following it with her eyes, she looked at the red pool where Ichijou had been standing before. Why did it smell so familiar? Before she could fully remember, Kain interrupted her train of thought with his words. "I see..."

Aidou gaped at him. "You see? You see?! Just a minute ago, you were more than happy to 'teach me a lesson', but now that you know Ichijou did it, you just say that? That is so unfair!" His rant would have gone on for longer if Seiren hadn't come in and told them that Kaname wanted to see them.

As they followed the silver-haired vampire, Kain stopped Aidou for a moment. "Hanabusa... do you like her? Ruka, that is."

"What? Why would you think that? Ichijou's the one who bit her! I was just helping her clean her neck!"

"Yes, but... you could have just helped her clean her neck with water and a towel. There was no need to use your tongue. After all, we don't know where it's been..."

"Hey!"

_________________

Yuuki looked down the whole way to the girls' Sun Dorm, blushing. She could feel her heart beating at the speed of light, and had no idea why. Was it because Kaname had given her a music box with her favourite song, or... because Zero had been so adamant to take her home? It was too silent for her liking. Should she say something? She didn't know what to talk about, though.

"You forgot his present."

Snapping out of her reverie, she looked down at her hands and saw nothing. So she did the normal thing to do at a time like this. She panicked. "Waaaa! Where is it?! Where is it?! Zero, did you see it?"

Sighing, he gave her a small package and punched her head playfully. "Silly. You'd forget your own head if it wasn't stuck to your body."

"Would not! Ugh!"

Hearing a loud thud, the silver-haired prefect turned around and saw her flat on the floor. Kneeling next to her, he helped her up, but couldn't help remarking. "Why doesn't this surprise me?"

"Shut up." She rubbed her nose and made the mistake of looking at him. Crap, the moon was bouncing off his hair again. 'Stop looking at him! Look away! Look away! There's a leaf on the floor, I bet it's prettier than him!'

He arched an eyebrow. "Why are you blushing?"

Yuuki turned her face to the side, which was becoming redder by the second. "I'm not! It's just that I sprained my ankle and it hurts..."

"Riiiiiight..." Zero rolled his eyes. She'd been acting really strange lately. He gave her his hand. "Should we go now? It might be hard for you, though, because of your ankle."

She took it hesitantly, and muttered. "You don't have to carry me..."

"Who said I was carrying you anywhere? This isn't some cheesy story where the guy carries the girl. You're walking the whole way."

"..."

_________________

Kaname tapped his fingers on his desk, his dark eyes holding a vacant look as he thought about the best thing to do. At first, he'd been puzzled when Ichijou came in and sat facing him, his shoulders slumped and the trademark grin wiped from his face. He'd been even more confused when the blond told him what he'd done. Yes, Kaname had been confused... until he asked Ichijou to recall his every move that day. His childhood friend told him how he'd cut himself whilst looking for Yuuki's present. He hadn't cut himself on the old chair, but rather on the bronze knife in the pile of stuff next to the chair.

He knew he should clean his quarters and empty them of dangerous items, but he never really had the time for it. The bronze knife had a glass sphere, with a drop of blood in it, adorning the hilt, and used to belong to Rido. The cut was tiny and immediately disappeared, but the effects were lasting. It made one's inner desires stronger and forced the person to perform them. Rido had used it on his enemies, since lack of control ultimately led to a fall from power.

"Kaname?"

The pureblood's eyes looked up at the aristocrat in front of him. "Yes?"

"When they get here, can you please not tell them what the knife does exactly? Could you just say that it controls people, and not go into details?" Ichijou gazed at him. "Please?"

"Mm..." Kaname diverted his eyes from him and for a moment busied himself with rearranging some chesspieces on the board. "I see no reason why I should make things harder for you."

Ichijou sighed, relieved. "Thank you. And sorry for keeping you here, I know you want to be with Yuuki-chan..."

"Don't worry, Kyriuu-kun was quite determined to walk her back to the Sun Dorm."

The door opened and Seiren came in, followed by Ruka, Kain and Aidou. "Kaname-sama, you called for us?"

He nodded. "Yes. Ichijou told me what happened, and I believe I found the reason for it. You see, he cut himself on a charmed dagger today during the party." He showed them the item on his desk. "If you cut someone with it, that person will be forced to bite someone, even if they don't want to."

Aidou frowned. "Why did he only bite Ruka?"

Kaname didn't lose his composure. Aidou was smart, so he had been expecting something like an inquiry from him. "The effects aren't consistent. Sometimes you bite ten people, sometiems only one. It just happened that Ruka was there when Ichijou was affected by it."

Aidou didn't seem convinced, but he respected Kaname too much to question him. Ruka was just happy that everything had been explained, while Kain was glad that she was alright. Ichijou himself was very grateful to Kaname for not telling him the dagger's true purpose. Everything seemed to be going perfectly well, until someone knocked.

Having been given permission to enter, Shiki came in holding an item made with smooth fabric and with woven patterns as well. Ichijou's face went paler than it already was. Why, Shiki, why?! What had he done to deserve this?! "Ichijou-san, the maids wanted to know if they should wash this together with the rest of your clothes."

As he held it up, Ruka inspected it closer and her eyes widened. "Shiki, where did you find this?"

"It was in Ichijou-san's back pocket. Why?"

"That's...one of my bras."

* * *

**A/N:**I'm SO sorry for the long wait! It's just that my A2 started this month, but it's ok now, because I'm finally on holidays! YAY! However, I have loads of projects to do too *cries* Please forgive the shortness of the chapter, but I have to get into the swing of writing again...

I really hope you guys liked it and a review would be lovely! ^_^


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